Dr. Ristaino is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at NC State University. She works on the population biology and impact of migration, recombination and hybridization on the evolution of Phytophthora infestans Her research has tracked historic migrations of P. infestans from its ancestral home in the Andes to the US and globally using historical herbarium collections. In 2023, she was awarded a Fulbright Award to study Phytophthora infestans and other Phytophthora species in Ireland. She is currently working on a book, The Potato Plague, where she draws from archival letters and herbaria from Botanic Gardens in Ireland and England. She is a Fellow of the APS, AAAS and the Linnaean Society.