The Nature-Inspired Fluids and Elasticity (NIFE) Lab investigates how fluid flow and deformation shape the behavior of living systems and soft materials. Driven by curiosity, we combine experiments, quantitative imaging, and modeling to study how plants sense their environment, how intracellular flows support communication, how water and microbes move through porous environments, and how freezing structures polymer solutions. These discoveries guide our development of soft robotic sensors, biohybrid interfaces, and materials with controlled mechanical and transport properties.