Andy Viet Nguyen is a recent Ph.D. graduate from Dr. Andy Walker’s grape breeding lab in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis. His background includes a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Biochemical Engineering from UC Davis as well as experience working with grapevines for over eight years. As a graduate student, Andy helped teach VEN 101A (Viticultural Practices) and BIS 002B (Introduction to Biology: Principles of Ecology and Evolution) for multiple quarters from 2016 to 2020.

During his Ph.D., Andy led projects to study the inheritance of rootstock-induced fanleaf degeneration disease tolerance in grapevine. He worked mainly with Muscadine material, such as the VR (vinifera x rotundifolia) hybrid rootstock O39-16 and a recently developed VM (Vitis x Muscadinia) breeding population. Outside of research, Andy is heavily invested in improving undergraduate student success, especially for first-generation students in STEM. He has mentored for the UC Davis student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers since 2012 and joined the UC Davis College of Engineering’s Mentor Collective in 2019. With more than five years of experience in UC Davis’s introductory biology series (BIS 002), Andy is interested in developing new methods for student engagement and retention in these courses and other large-enrollment STEM introductory courses.

Viticulture: Grape