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Kallenbach, Cynthia

Academic title(s): 

Associate Professor

Kallenbach, Cynthia
Contact Information
Address: 

Macdonald-Stewart Building, MS2-064

Phone: 
514-398-8640
Email address: 
cynthia.kallenbach [at] mcgill.ca
Degree(s): 

Ph.D.聽Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New Hampshire, 2015
M.Sc.聽Soil Biogeochemistry, UC Davis California, 2008
M.Sc.聽International Agriculture Development, UC Davis California, 2007
B.Sc.聽Geography, Sonoma State University California, 2001

Awards, honours, and fellowships: 
  • USDA Post-Doctoral Fellow (2015)
  • USDA Pre-Doctoral Fellowship (2013)
  • Francis and Evelyn Clark Soil Biology Fellowship (2012)
Biography: 

Cynthia Kallenbach鈥檚 research integrates soil ecology and biogeochemistry to understand soil organic matter turnover and accumulation and microbial-plant interactions affecting carbon and nutrient cycling under land use and global change. She received her BSc degree (Geography) from Sonoma State University, California. She has two MSc from University of California-Davis in International Agriculture Development and in Soil Biogeochemistry, and completed her PhD from the University of New Hampshire in Earth and Environmental Science. Before coming to 涩里番, she was a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) postdoctoral fellow at Colorado State University.

Research areas: 
Agricultural and Soil Sciences
Current research: 
  • Evaluating the impacts of altered precipitation (drought and seasonal flooding) on soil biogeochemistry and soil microbial functional responses
  • Crop rotational diversity and cover crop impacts on soil organic matter and soil microbial communities
  • Integration of microbial drivers and geochemistry to understand permafrost carbon cycling
  • Identifying key microbial groups and their functional traits that influence soil organic matter chemistry and accumulation under different selection environments
Areas of interest: 

Kallenbach鈥檚 research program focuses on identifying and explaining the fundamental ecological and biogeochemical processes that characterize soil carbon and nutrient cycling, especially under managed ecosystems such as croplands. How soil microbial communities effect plant litter decomposition dynamics and rhizosphere processes, their influences on soil organic matter formation and stabilization, and microbial functional responses to agricultural management and global change are specifically considered. The program uses an integrated approach, combining lab, greenhouse, and field-based studies with advanced analytical measurements (molecular microbiology, stable isotopes, and molecular chemical fingerprinting). Knowledge gained is used to help inform the development of agricultural management scenarios that are both environmentally sustainable and productive.

Courses: 

ENVB 210. The Biophysical Environment.

Credits: 3
Offered by: Natural Resource Sciences (Faculty of Agric Environ Sci)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for in Visual Schedule Builder.

Description

With reference to the ecosystems in the St Lawrence lowlands, the principles and processes governing climate-landform-water-soil-vegetation systems and their interactions will be examined in lecture and laboratory. Emphasis on the natural environment as an integrated system.

Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.


SOIL 535. Soil Ecology.

Credits: 3
Offered by: Natural Resource Sciences (Faculty of Agric Environ Sci)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for in Visual Schedule Builder.

Description

Exploration of the unique soil habitat for organisms with a focus on the variables that affect the abundance, diversity and interactions of soil biota and, in turn, their influence on soil physicochemical properties, biogeochemical cycles and other factors impacting ecosystem sustainability. Topics include survey of soil fauna, soil food webs, microbial ecology, biological carbon and nitrogen cycling, plant-soil interactions, and the effects of human activities and management on soil ecology, including synthesizing concepts and a critical analysis and interpretation of primary scientific literature in soil ecology.
  • 3 lectures and one 3-hour lab
  • Prerequisite(s): ENVB 210 or GEOG 305 or SOIL 326 or permission of instructor.
  • Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken SOIL 335.
  • Prerequisite(s): ENVB 210 or GEOG 305 or SOIL 326 or permission of instructor.

Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.

Link(s): 
Laboratory: 
Currently accepting graduate students
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