Leila Shadmani joined the lab in summer 2022 as a PhD student in the Microbiology Program after completing a MS in Plant Pathology with a focus on Mycology at Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran. She is currently working on metagenomics for the NSF funded Understanding Rules of Life for Herptile Microbiomes and investigating deep subsurface Fungi as part of a collaborative project supported by CIFAR programs in Fungi and Earth4D.