After receiving a M.S. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Pisa in 2003, Trivellone received her Ph.D. in biology from the University of Neuchâtel in 2016. She worked as a research assistant at the Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) and Agroscope in Switzerland, and collaborated with the Natural History Museum in Lugano. In 2018, she worked at the Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois (US) as a postdoctoral fellow for 5 years. Since 2023, she has been working at the Illinois Natural History Survey (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) as an assistant research scientist in Vector Ecology.

Dr. Trivellone is currently the Principal Investigator of an NSF-funded project investigating the diversity of phytoplasmas, their insect vectors, and their host plants in natural habitats. 

Her research program, centered on emerging and re-emerging vector-borne plant diseases and global food security, uses a holistic, systems-based approach to assess diversity of associations, outbreak risk and anticipate plant disease threats with economic, social, and environmental implications.

Her research activities include leveraging archives and biological collections to uncover new pathogen strains and host associations, integrating satellite imagery with land-use regression models to identify areas at high risk for disease emergence, and evaluate the effects of global change on emerging phytoplasma diseases.

Valeria Trivellone is an ecologist and evolutionary biologist with expertise in ecological modeling, plant pathology, vector ecology and biodiversity science. Her research integrates quantitative methods with ecological and evolutionary theory to explain the origins and dynamics of host–pathogen associations in natural and human-modified landscapes. Using tools such as individual-based models, machine learning, and spatial risk mapping, she aims to predict novel pathogen–host interactions and support sustainable pest and disease management, especially under climate and land-use change.

Keywords: Auchenorrhyncha; agroecology; biodiversity; evolutionary ecology; exotic species; functional community ecology; insect conservation; plant-insect-microbe interactions; taxonomy; vector ecology

Gabrys, A. M., Dietrich, C. H., & Trivellone, V. (2025). Inferring Tripartite Associations of Vector-Borne Plant Pathogens Using a Next-Generation Sequencing Approach. Pathogens, 14(1), 74. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14010074 

Trivellone, V., Cao, Y., Dietrich C.H. (2022) .Comparison of Traditional and Next-Generation Approaches for Uncovering Phytoplasma Diversity, with Discovery of New Groups, Subgroups and Potential Vectors. Biology,11(7), 977 https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/7/977

Trivellone, V., Hoberg, E. P., Boeger, W. A., & Brooks, D. R. (2022). Food security and emerging infectious disease: risk assessment and risk management. Royal Society Open Science, 9(2), 211687 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211687

Trivellone, V., Wei, W., Filippin, L., Dietrich, C.H. (2021). Screening potential insect vectors in a museum biorepository reveals undiscovered diversity of plant pathogens in natural areas. Ecology and Evolution, 11(11), 6493-6503.

Brooks, D.R., Hoberg, E. P., Boeger, W.A., Trivellone, V. (2021). Emerging infectious disease: an underappreciated area of strategic concern for food security. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases https://doi.org/10.1111/tbed.14009

Trivellone, V., Dietrich, C.H. (2021). Evolutionary Diversification in Insect Vector–Phytoplasma–Plant Associations. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. saaa048, https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saaa048

Brooks, D. R., Hoberg, E. P., Boeger, W. A., Gardner, S. L., Araujo, S. B., Bajer, K., ... Trivellone, V. (2020). Before the pandemic ends: making sure this never happens again. World complexity Science Academy Journal 1(1).

Cao, Y., Trivellone, V., Dietrich, C.H. A timetree for phytoplasmas (Mollicutes) with new insights on patterns of evolution and diversification (2020). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106826

Trivellone, V., Ripamonti, M., Angelini, E., Filippin, L., Rossi, M., Marzachí, C., Galetto, L. 2019. Evidence suggesting interactions between immunodominant membrane protein Imp of Flavescence dorée phytoplasma and protein extracts from distantly related insect species. Journal of applied microbiology, 127(6), 1801-1813

Trivellone, V. 2019. An online global database of Hemiptera-Phytoplasma-Plant biological interactions. Biodiversity Data Journal. Biodivers. Data J. 7: e32910.

Trivellone, V. 2018. Hemiptera-Phytoplasma-Plant database links. (http://trivellone.speciesfile.org/).

Trivellone, V., Dietrich, C. H., Dmitriev, D., Yoder, M. 2018. TaxonWorks: A Use Case in Documenting Complex Biological Relationships. Biodiversity Information Science and Standards, 2, e25723.

Trivellone, V., Bougeard, S., Giavi, S., Krebs, P., Balseiro, D., Dray, S., & Moretti, M. 2017. Factors shaping community assemblages and species co‐occurrence of different trophic levels. Ecology and evolution, 7(13), 4745-4754.

Vandegehuchte, M.L, Trivellone V., Schütz, M., Firn J., de Schaetzen F., Risch A.C. 2017. Mammalian herbivores affect leafhoppers associated with specific plant functional types at different timescales. Functional ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12989

Trivellone, V., Filippin, L., Narduzzi-Wicht, B., Angelini, E. 2016. A regional-scale survey to define the known and potential vectors of grapevine yellow phytoplasmas in vineyards South of Swiss Alps. European journal of plant pathology, 145(4), 915-927

Mitrović M., Jakovljević M., Jović J., Krstić O., Kosovac A., Trivellone V., Jermini M., Toševski I., Cvrković T. 2016. 'Candidatus Phytoplasma solani' genotypes associated with potato stolbur in Serbia and the role of Hyalesthes obsoletus and Reptalus panzeri (hemiptera, cixiidae) as natural vectors. European journal of Plant Pathology, 144: 619 – 630. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-015-0800-y

Trivellone V., Pollini Paltrinieri L., Jermini M., Moretti M. 2012. Management pressure drives leafhopper communities in vineyards in Southern Switzerland. Insect Conservation and diversity, 5: 75-85. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-4598.2011.00151.x

Pinzauti F., Trivellone V., Bagnoli B. 2008. Ability of Reptalus quinquecostatus (Hemiptera: Cixiidae) to inoculate Stolbur phytoplasma to artificial feeding medium. Annals of applied biology, 153 (3): 299-305. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7348.2008.00261.x

Topic Editor, Insect

Ph.D., Biology, University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland),  2016
M.S., Environmental Sciences, University of Pisa (Italy), 2003