2026¶
October 2026. Recruiting up to two PhD students for Fall 2027, through the Department of Microbiology or the Bredesen Center PhD programs; applications are due December 1, 2026 for both. Read the announcement (PDF) or see Join Us.
August 2026. Joined the Department of Microbiology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville as an Assistant Professor. The Shao EcoLab is open and recruiting: a funded postdoctoral position, graduate students for Fall 2027, and undergraduate researchers.
2026. Co-PI on a Department of Energy Genesis Mission award ($585K, Phase I): “Transforming subsurface prediction with an autonomous, multi-agent AI workflow for multi-scale coupled bio-hydrogeochemical modeling.”
2025¶
December 2025. Invited talk at the AGU Fall Meeting in New Orleans on mycorrhizae-explicit ecosystem modeling, and convened Session B068 on peatland carbon cycling with Daniel Ricciuto, Xiaoying Shi, and Randall Kolka.
December 2025. Research seminar at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia.
October 2025. Invited paper published in JGR: Biogeosciences as part of the “Biogeosciences Leaders of Tomorrow” special collection, and featured on AGU’s Eos Research Spotlight: How Plant-Fungi Friendships Are Changing.
July 2025. Invited talk at the LBNL–LLNL mini-workshop on soil CDR measurement, reporting, and verification.
2025. Selected as a member of MicrobeNet^Net, an NSF AccelNet project advancing international collaboration in plant–microbe interaction research.