Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Nicole did her undergraduate research in the lab of Kenneth Stedman on a NASA-funded project on acidophilic thermo-stable archaeal proteins. Subsequently she worked in the lab of Curt Machida at OHSU testing the bactericidal properties of bioactive resins on S. mutans biofilms, and then in the lab of Jason Taylor at the Portland VA studying immunological defects in a mouse model of Fanconi anemia. She has a Master’s degree from work done on spindle orientation in the lab of Ken Prehoda, and is excited to combine her research on the immune system with her early experience in evolutionary ecology on projects testing how immune receptors evolve new functions in primates. She loves animals and almost became a veterinarian, in her spare time she serves the public on the City Council Toxics Advisory Board and hikes mountains with her dog.