Nicole Reiz, PhD

Originally from Wichita, Nicole has made Lawrence her home since 2002 earning her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from KU in 2007, followed by an MA and PhD in the Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science. Her research focused on geolegal arrangements of extraterritorially housed military personal and crimes of sexual violence against civilians. Nicole has served KU in many roles including as a GTA, lecturer, and graduate research development specialist in the Hall Center’s Humanities Grant Development Office before moving into her staff roles as the Program Coordinator for Graduate Professional Development and now the Director of Professional Development in the Office of Graduate Studies. She is currently working on numerous projects supporting professional development and career advancement for graduate students across KU including the PhD Career Pathways Project and GradMaps.

Nicole is a co-founder of the Big Ideas Incubator, an infrastructural innovation designed to holistically strengthen the University's research capabilities, impact, and relationship with the public by building robust teams of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and community partners to imagine, create and deliver real-world solutions to increasingly complex problems facing our local and global communities along with Dr. Katie Batza at the University of Kansas.