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Time and time again history has shown us the effects of introducing a foreign pathogen to our native forests. Chestnut Blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) wiped out the mature American chestnut (Castenea dentata) in the past and Hemlock Wooly Adelgid (Adeleges tsugae) is wiping out our hemlock today. The question must be asked: what is the threat to our forests in the future? My research is going to focus on Leptographium species from Nicaragua. The reason for this research is that a bark beetle, Dendroctonus spp., is found to vector these species of Leptographium in Nicaragua, which causes damage and mortality to the native trees. The problem is that not much is known about these species of Leptographium and that the beetles that vector them in Nicaragua are also found in the southern United States. Therefore, my research is going to revolve around measuring the virulence and pathogenicity of these species of Leptographium on commercially grown southern pines using two known Leptographium species to gage their effects. This process will be done through wound inoculation experiments on seedlings in a controlled greenhouse environment.