We study interactions across the plant-microbe-soil continuum to understand how these interactions shape the ecology of soil organisms and the functional outcomes of soil processes.
Through an interdisciplinary systems biology framework, we integrate classical organismal biology with modern microbial ecology to address fundamental questions in soil microbiology
and organismal interactions that could lead to novel concepts and products that directly benefit the environment and society.
Hawaiʻi is a breath-taking natural laboratory and is an incredible place to do research. The Hawaiian Islands have 10/12 (83%) Soil Orders and 27/38 (71%) Bioclimatic Life Zones on the planet.
The intersections between soils and climate provide a wealth of environmental diversity, as well as replicability, for terrestrial ecosystem research. We base our research on this diversity,
with an emphasis on the unique volcanic Andisol soils. You can find us digging in fields, forests, and greenhouses, across both natural and managed ecosystems.
The current focus of the lab is the interactions between two of the most ubiquitous groups of soil microorganisms - fungi and bacteria.
We are interested in understanding who are interacting with each other, how they interact, and what are the important impacts of these interactions to soil ecosystem function.
LAB NEWS
March 2024
The lab joins an interdisciplinary team of chemists and microbiologists for the next five years to study fungal-bacterial interactions on surface films, supported by the Department of Defense! See the award announcement.
February 2024
Welcome undergrads Augie Rodegerts and Luke Amerine to the lab!
September 2023
Congratulations to Jon Abe, who is first author on a newly published manuscript on the presence of legume nodulating rhizobia on Oʻahu! Jon did this work while he was an undergraduate in the lab, doing his senior thesis and supported by the UROP program.
The lab received a grant from the USDA to use machine learning to connect the soil microbiome to soil health. This is an exciting collaborative project with Dr. Tai Maaz (PI), Drs. Susan Crow, Jonathan Deenik, Mikey Kantar, and Nhu Nguyen as Co-PIs. The Nguyen Lab's contributions to this project will be led by Dr. Giovana Slanzon.
August 2023
Nhu received the prestigious Constantine J. Alexopoulos Prize for Outstanding Early Career Mycologist from the Mycological Society of America!
Ishwora also received a student travel award bearing the same name! It allowed her to travel to the meeting and present her work. The award was given at the MSA 2023 Annual Meeting in Flagstaff, AZ.
May-June 2023
Summer is a time of change in Academia. Undergraduates Makana Ioh, Sophia Lee, and Quinn Moon graduated with their BS degrees. Makana will participate in a post-baccalaureate program at NIH and Quinn will join Tim Jame's lab at the University of Michigan as a PhD student. We wish them the very best!
Newly minted Dr. Wesley Sparagon will officially join the lab as a postdoc. Dr. Caio Pires de Paula César from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences is visiting the lab to learn ways to study fungal-bacterial interactions. And Jacob White, a fungal enthusiast, also joined the lab for the summer.
May 2023
Makana Ioh received the Honors Thesis Prize for her excellent thesis work "Fungal-Bacterial Interactions may lead to suppression of bacterial antibiotic resistance"!
February 2023
We welcome new postdoc Dr. Gaetan Martin to the lab!
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS
Graduate students
Prospective students who are inquisitive, motivated, independent, hard-working, with good communication and writing skills interested in joining the lab, should email Nhu directly with a detailed CV, and a statement of interest that highlights who you are, your career goals, why you want to join the lab group, how you see yourself fitting into the larger research themes of the lab, and the skills that you have that can potentially contribute to the lab and topic of study. Feel free to attach and supporting documents that might be helpful (CV, transcripts, publications, etc...). I will likely not respond to introductory emails that does not specifically speak to your interest and fit in the lab.- Useful resources
TPSS Graduate Program
Apply through Graduate Division
An example of how to craft an effective introductory email
An example of how to write an effective research interest statement. Or search the web for many, many more examples.