Dr. David Ortega is an associate professor at Michigan State University and a College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Faculty Laureate. He is appointed in the tenure system. His research program focuses on understanding consumer, producer, and agribusiness decision-making to better inform food policies and marketing strategies.

Dr. Ortega has research experience in several developing and emerging countries, including China, India, Kenya, Malawi, and Rwanda. Over the past 15 years, his work in China has focused on the economics of food quality and on evaluating emerging markets for U.S. agricultural products. His research has been published in high-impact peer-reviewed journals, including Food Policy, World Development, Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Economic Development and Cultural Change, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Economics, China Economic Review, and the European Review of Agricultural Economics, to name a few.

Dr. Ortega provides timely analysis of forces and events affecting the agricultural and food sector. He has been called to provide expert testimony before federal and state agencies, including the U.S. Congress. He is frequently interviewed by prominent media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, USA Today, CNN, PBS, Forbes, Politico, Newsweek, and the Detroit Free Press, among others. Dr. Ortega earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University.