The NIFE Lab is a curiosity-driven research group exploring how living and soft systems sense, transport, adapt, and respond to their physical environment. We combine fluid mechanics, soft matter, biomechanics, and transport phenomena to uncover the physical principles underlying processes ranging from plant sensing and intracellular dynamics to freezing, porous materials, and biological transport. We then translate these principles into new approaches for soft robotics, mechanosensing, sustainable materials, and bio-inspired engineering.