Rate My Professor Catherine Zabinski

Catherine Zabinski is a Professor of Plant and Soil Ecology in the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences at Montana State University, contributing to the Agricultural and Veterinary Science faculty. She holds a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Minnesota (1991) and a B.A. from St. Olaf College. Her research specializes in plant-soil interactions, sustainable agriculture, extreme environments, disturbance ecology, and ecological restoration. Zabinski investigates how arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and soil microbes mediate plant responses to stressors like temperature extremes, invasions, and climate change, with applications to rangeland restoration and grassland management.

At Montana State University, Zabinski has advanced from Assistant Professor to Full Professor, mentoring students and securing grants from SARE, Montana Space Grant Consortium, and others for projects on climate gradients and invasive species control. Her influential book, Amber Waves: The Extraordinary Biography of Wheat, from Wild Grass to World Megacrop (University of Chicago Press, 2020), examines wheat's ecological and agricultural history and was considered for national awards. With over 4,900 citations and an h-index of 28 on Google Scholar, her key publications include "Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi ameliorate temperature stress in thermotolerant and nonthermotolerant Lycopersicon species" (Ecology, 2009), "A meta-analysis of context-dependency in plant response to inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi" (Ecology Letters, 2010), and "MycoDB, a global database of plant response to mycorrhizal fungi" (Scientific Data, 2016). Honors include the Arthur P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship, Anna K. Fridley Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Award, MSU Provost's Distinguished Lecturer (2016), and teaching excellence awards. She advises the Environmental Analytical Lab on restoration ecology and delivered the 2016 Provost's Lecture on plant life in natural and managed communities.