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Currently serving as the chair of the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, Dr. Ricotta is a teacher, speaker, writer and food agtivist with more than 20 years of experience in the classroom. She is a regular presenter at local and national conferences and seminars. 

Originally from Rochester, New York, Dr. Ricotta received her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and went on to earn a master’s degree from North Carolina State University, and a doctorate from the University of Illinois, all in horticulture. Her specialization was vegetable production and pest control.

Since 2000, Dr. Ricotta has been a professor of horticulture at Delaware Valley University where she has taught courses including Botany, Sustainable Agriculture, Organic Food & Fiber, Integrated Pest Management, Commercial Vegetable Production, and Marketing of Horticultural Products. 

She was instrumental in bringing a certified organic section to the DelVal farm in 2004. She also helped start the Organic Farming Certificate Program (with program partner  ) as well as the sustainable agriculture systems major. 

Dr. Ricotta received the DelVal Distinguished Faculty Member Award in 2012.

In fall 2018, she spent the semester on sabbatical at Cornell University and authored the blog “.” Dr. Ricotta is the co-editor of the textbook “Organic Food, Farming and Culture, which was published by  in 2019.

When not at DelVal, Dr. Ricotta enjoys time with her family, their dog Finocchio, practicing yoga, gardening, and cooking fresh, locally-grown food. She is on the board of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey (NOFA-NJ). Dr. Ricotta is also active with the , the , the , the  and the DelVal Food Systems Institute.