Francesca Cotrufo

Dr. M. Francesca Cotrufo is one of the three Principal Investigators (PI) for the 3M project, and the PI for Colorado State University (CSU). She is also a professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Science at CSU. As a soil ecologist and biogeochemist, she leads the 3M soil module and provides scientific leadership to the MEMS model development work. She designed the overall scope of work for the soil C and health module, acquired and established in her Soil Innovation Laboratory the instrumentation required to support that work, oversees all field and lab activities, supervises the senior personnel on the soil module team, and is Erica Patterson’s doctoral advisor. As part of the leadership team, she contributes to the overall project’s strategic decision-making and participates in Advisory Board meetings.

Francesca grew up in Naples, Italy, where she earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in biology before earning her doctorate in terrestrial ecosystem ecology at the University of Lancaster, UK. She was a professor of ecology at the University of Campania, Italy, for 13 years before moving to CSU in 2008.