About Me

Year 3 Research Student, Senior at PHS

About

My name is Ellie Nghiem and I am a Year 3 Research Student at Princeton High School. My research the past 2 years have been centered around agricultural and environmental sustainability.

My work as a junior was focused on the Legume-rhizobium symbiosis, an mutualistic relationship formed between nitrogen fixing bacteria called rhizobia and the plant family they inoculate, legumes. My experiment was simultaneously testing both the nitrogen fixing efficiency and the competitiveness of commercial inoculants v. native strains, as both are equally important in the biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) process. The aim of this project was to add to existing knowledge on this process and provide new information on specific strains. This could potentially decrease dependency on harmful nitrogen fertilizers, which have adverse effects on the environment.

My work this year as a senior is inspired by the Samsung Solve black soldier fly project. The purpose of this experiment is to test the viability of cricket oil as a substitute for linseed oil in oil paint. Because insects can eat food waste not edible by humans or livestock, preventing it from ending up in landfills, the utilization of crickets in paint has major implications for food waste, agricultural land allocation, and the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG emissions). In summary, my project offers a solution to climate change and other urgent, environment-related problems by providing a more sustainable option for artists.

For more information on my projects, click on the links to the right side!