Shahrzad Motamedi

Shahrzad extracts DNA from low-biomass carbonate rocks from Crystal Geyser, UT to determine the microbial community composition and metabolic processes active in the environment. Shahrzad will work on rock samples from the Lost City hydrothermal vent site in the Atlantic Ocean that will be collected in Fall 2015. Furthermore, she is isolating halophiles from two cold geysers in southern Utah based on culture-dependent studies.