Hung Nguyen

@ntthung.bsky.social

1156 Followers 155 Following

Water, people, tree rings. Dad. ntthung.github.io

Close-up microscopic view of a cross section of a hackberry tree, showing the annual rings. On the left we see some tree rings with normal sizes (1 - 3 mm in width). In the middle we see a row of 8 very narrow rings (0.1 mm or less) signifying suppressed growth.
Photo showing a tree with two increment borers stuck in it.
A scene from the Yellowstone National Park. The landscape is covered in snow. Mountains and forests in the background. Sparse pine trees in the foreground. A bison is seen on the snow, and more bisons can be spotted partially covered by the the trees.
A group of 2 men and 2 women each holding a bowling ball. The bowling lanes can be seen in the background.
Photo of a yellow poster tube hanging on a suitcase handle. In the background are people walking through the airport. The sign of Gate G11 is shown in the background on the top left corner.
This video show a camera system to capture images of tree ring core. The camera is mounted on a vertical pillar pointing down. A stage at the bottom moves the tree ring core from left to right incrementally, and the camera takes pictures of the core as it moves. The stage is moved by an Arduino 3D printer controller, and the whole thing is controlled by a Rasberry Pi computer. This system is connected to a monitor for the user to run the controlling software.
A man is cutting a log with a long-blade long-handle hand saw. He's standing in a lunge position, bending down. The log is on the ground. (This is me.)
A woman with black hair, wearing a brown jacket, is using an increment borer to core a tree. She is smiling happily as she works. Surrounding her are forest trees. The afternoon sunlight shines on her face.
Four tree ring scientists posing for a wefie. From left: a woman with black hair, brown jacket, holding a cup of coffee; a man with black hair, glasses, and green jacket; a woman with grown curly hair, light green baseball cap, and dark blue hoodie that says Davidson; a man with black hair, glasses, and light blue hoodie.
This image shows a tree ring core with 18 rings, dated from 1847 to 1864, on a Cedrus deodara core. The ring of 1850 is marked with two pencil dots, and the ring of 1860 is marked with one pencil dot. In dendrochronology (tree ring science), years ending in 50 (1850, 1750, etc) are marked with two dots, years ending a decade (1860, 1870, etc) are marked with one dot, and years ending a century (1800, 1900, etc) are marked with three dots. This helps scientists get a bearing on which part of the tree's lifetime they are looking at.
Cover of the book Wood Identification by Microscopic Examination by Janet Friedman
We've talked about your worries of "making progress" twice now, so I wanted to reiterate that you are doing fine, that adjusting to grad life is difficult and you should go easy on yourself. Yes, there are some requirements of coursework and exams that you have to meet, but those are very doable with your capability. I want you to remember that. Now, there are things that are more important and fun than making progress and meeting requirements. Think about the knowledge that you are learning, the discoveries that you are making. Think about what you've learned in just the last month that you had absolutely no idea before. Think of the work that you're doing as preparations for that cool project down the road. Remember why you wanted to start grad school. Let your curiosity, not deadlines and requirements, guide most of what you do. Progress in science is never linear. It is extremely incremental most of the time, and then sometimes, it leaps. So don't worry about progress. Just enjoy
A core taken from an almond tree, sanded to reveal the cross section with growth rings.
The Water Cycle and Tree Rings Group is recruiting! We are looking for graduate students, both master’s and PhD levels, to join our research in the following areas: • Hydroclimate reconstructions using tree rings and their applications to water management • Proxy-model comparison of past hydroclimate, with an opportunity to work on a project funded by the US National Science Foundation • Understanding and mitigating climate-driven natural hazards • Human-environment interactions in the past using climate proxies, history, and archaeology • Impacts of reservoirs and dams on forests and hydrology • Other topics related to water cycle and tree rings You will have access to a brand-new Tree Ring Lab with state-of-the-art equipment, as well as advanced supercomputing resources. Our group is a part of an outstanding and supportive department; we care deeply about being inclusive and nurturing. Please reach out to Hung Nguyen, hungn@illinois.edu, for more information.
Me riding the Amtrak train
The popular meme of Taylor Swift whispering into Travis Kelce's ear.