 She returned to Hawaii in 2015 when she accepted her current position as director of the Pacific Biosciences Research Program and professor at PBRC’s Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.Margaret McFall-Ngai is a pioneer in the study of animal-bacterial symbiosis and known for her research of the Hawaiian bobtail squid, "Euprymna scolopes", and its relationship with bacteria, "Vibrio fischeri".She initially began her research in graduate school studying fish with a similar bioluminescent bacterial relationship, however, these fish proved difficult to grow in the lab.