People

Research Interests: From an early age Nicole knew she was passionate about human, animal, and environmental health yet it was not until she began her career at Western Carolina University that she discovered the concept of One Health. At WCU Nicole earned a B.S. in Environmental Health which exposed her to the multidisciplinary field of protecting and improving human health. Nicole's passion for vector borne diseases and how they play into this One Health triad began when she completed a summer internship with Forsyth County Public Health Department's vector control unit conducting mosquito surveillance and public service requests. Following this experience, Nicole began working with Dr. Brian Byrd in the Western Carolina University Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease laboratory. Nicole hopes to apply her skills in a way to help improve and facilitate vector control for rural areas similar to where she grew up. In her free time Nicole likes to go hiking, reading dystopian books, stargazing and hanging out with her cat!