Biography

Nikki is a first-generation American Afro-Latina who was born and raised in the Bronx, NY. Her family is from the Dominican Republic and she is only allowed to speak Spanish at home. She has learned a couple of languages (Mandarin Chinese, Twi, and Pidgin) and would love to learn a whole lot more including Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, French, and Swahili.  Nikki is a very curious person who enjoys learning as much as possible about anything and everything; the more details, the better!

In college, she majored in Dance and minored in Biology. Fun fact – she’s really good at dissections and wanted to go to medical school to become a medical examiner (and secretly still does). After graduating from college, she went straight into a Disease Ecology PhD program without ever taking an ecology class, because Nikki loves a big challenge! She believes the PhD is a fun way to push her limits and keep herself on her toes. Her dissertation is on the effects of microclimate, urbanization, and intraspecific competition on mosquito development and disease transmission potential. She does that via fieldwork and mathematical models.

When not found outside with her service animal, Xena, she can be found making art, organizing, trying to make something more efficient, going down a rabbit hole about something very random and specific, watching anything offered on streaming services (at 2x speed), or working on her dissertation. 

 

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Why/how did you decide what you wanted to major in in college?

I was a Dance/Biology double major on a Pre-Med track when I started college because I wanted to be a medical examiner. By the end of my sophomore year, I decided to drop Biology to a minor and leave the pre-med track; this was in part due to my relationship with chemistry. Inorganic chemistry was kicking my butt and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I could simply drop biology to a minor, avoid chemistry, and enjoy all the biology classes my heart desired. I chose to major in Dance because I had danced my entire life and enjoyed my professors, colleagues, and classes. I knew that if I wanted to pursue a career in a biological field, I could still do that because I had the knowledge (AKA classes) AND my application would stand out since I had a non-STEM major. At the end of the day, I was accepted into a Disease Ecology PhD program before graduating without ever taking an ecology class (it's all about keeping an open mind and marketing yourself). My advice for those still deciding what to major in is: major in whatever excites you! It is YOUR degree, YOUR timeline, YOUR career, and YOUR life, so you might as well enjoy it! The rest will follow and make sense later down the road - I promise! 

 

Why did you decide to become an Academic Advisor?

Throughout my time in graduate school, I learned that I truly enjoy mentoring, teaching, and administrative work. As I reflected on the challenges my friends faced in school, I realized that they didn't have good mentors. Meanwhile, the reason I am where I am today is because I had amazing mentors and advisors in middle school, high school, and college. They made me aware of resources and opportunities that I wouldn't have otherwise known about. They never doubted my abilities and always encouraged me to apply for anything I thought was interesting, no matter how challenging or competitive it was. Having someone in my corner at all times increased my confidence and made me feel a whole lot better about navigating the education system as a first-generation student. I wouldn't be where I am without their help, and I wanted to pay that back. My hope is to empower students to take their education in their own hands and never doubt their abilities; our brain can do wonders if we let it!