Rate My Professor Tiziana Oppedisano

Dr. Tiziana Oppedisano is an Assistant Professor of Entomology/Insect Ecology in the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology at Montana State University, affiliated with the Western Triangle Agricultural Research Center. She earned her Ph.D. in Sustainable Plant Production and Protection with a focus on Entomology from Fondazione Edmund Mach and the University of Molise in Italy. She also holds an M.S. in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology and a B.S. in Biology, both from the University of Milan. Her doctoral research examined the biology and ecology of insect vectors of apple proliferation, a significant disease in European apple-growing regions.

Dr. Oppedisano's research program emphasizes field-oriented studies on integrated pest management for agricultural arthropod pests, tailored to the needs of growers and stakeholders in the Golden Triangle region. She explores pest biology, ecology, and plant-insect interactions to develop practical, cost-effective, and environmentally sensitive management tactics. Her current work targets pests of small-grain, pulse, and oilseed crops, including wheat stem sawfly and wireworms in wheat, pea leaf weevils in pulses, and flea beetles in canola. Prior to her position at Montana State University, she served as a postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State University's Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center starting in 2019. There, she studied leafhoppers as vectors of phytoplasma and virus diseases in field crops and industrial hemp in the Columbia Basin, contributed to variety trials for pest resistance, and applied agronomic practices to reduce pest populations, thereby enhancing local Integrated Pest Management programs. Dr. Oppedisano is an active member of the Entomological Society of America and participates in outreach events addressing arthropod pest concerns. Her key publications include "Forecasting pest phenology of four major hemipteran pests to enhance integrated pest management programs in potatoes in the Columbia Basin" (Journal of Economic Entomology, 2022), "Importance of psyllids’ life stage in acquisition and transmission mechanisms of apple proliferation phytoplasma" (Journal of Pest Science, 2019), "Substrate-borne vibrational communication in the vector of apple proliferation disease Cacopsylla picta" (Journal of Economic Entomology, 2019), and "Beet leafhopper in potatoes: biology, ecology, and management" (2023, in press).