HCS Welcomes Dr. Osler Ortez

Dec. 22, 2021

The Department of Horticulture at The Ohio State University is pleased to announce that Dr. Osler Ortez will join our faculty in January 2022 as an Assistant Professor and Corn and Emerging Crop Production Systems Specialist. Dr. Ortez will be working in applied research and extension programs and help to fill a vacancy left by the retirement of long-time corn agronomist, Dr. Peter Thomison in December 2019. Dr. Ortez is currently finishing his Ph.D. in Agronomy at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, where he has been investigating abnormal ear development in corn. Regarding his pending move to Ohio, Dr. Osler mentioned, “At Ohio State, I will continue pursuing my career goals of being at the service of agriculture. My position includes extension, research, and teaching appointments. This combination provides very promising dynamics, collaborations, and educational opportunities. It is a great honor to contribute to the advancement of the OSU land-grant mission.”

Dr. Ortez will join several Horticulture and Crop Science faculty based at the CFAES, Wooster campus. In addition to his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Dr. Ortez has degrees from Kansas State University and Pan-American Agricultural School at Zamorano University in Honduras. Osler’s experience with agriculture began on his family’s farm and expanded into research studying nitrogen limitation in soybean and then ear development issues and productivity losses in corn. Growing up in Nicaragua, Osler had dreams of becoming a cowboy. While that didn’t pan out exactly, Osler is still very active in the agricultural community and said, “There’s still time yet. Having some acres with a few horses and cows in eastern Ohio might not be a bad idea after all.” The family farm that Osler grew up on focused their production on coffee. He loves the idea of being able to drink the coffee from beans grown by his family and that it supports the producer-to-consumer concept. In 2021 the Ortez family farm was among the 30 best coffees in Nicaragua.