Gail Wilson is a grassland ecologist with a research focus on the role of belowground processes in mediating aboveground plant community structure and function in rangeland, savanna, and agricultural ecosystems, employing a combination of experimental field and greenhouse studies.  Her research has demonstrated that the mutualistic symbiosis between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi plays a critical role in plant population dynamics, competition, community composition and diversity, and responses to fire and grazing. This research has contributed to improving rangeland and forest management, as well as restoration practices and sustainable bioenergy production locally, regionally, and internationally by developing basic ecological principles and their practical applications. An OSU faculty member since 2007, Wilson holds the university’s Sarkeys Distinguished Professorship in Rangeland Soil Ecology. In 2018, she accepted a prestigious international adjunct faculty position at China Agricultural University in Beijing to integrate grassland ecological research across continents.