Nicole-Marie Cotton

CITRIS Program Manager for Workforce Development

After working in a microbiology lab and 3M, Nicole was set on a career in the life sciences until one day she was in the middle of a debate between her zoology professor and her philosophy professor about ethics. Since then, Nicole has been interested in ways to bring people together from different backgrounds to discuss ethical issues such as environmental justice, multicultural inclusion, and tech for social good. Nicole is a graduate researcher for UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute working on a landscape scan on technology, surveillance, and social determinants of health for underserved communities during the COVID-19 crisis. Nicole is the social chair of Bias Busters, a student-run organization that designs and facilitates anti-bias and bystander intervention training for STEM labs. She is part of the inaugural class of UC Berkeley Diversity Community Fellows to recruit and retain a diverse and inclusive graduate student body. Her PhD research centers around how DNA ancestry technology and social media converge to teach the public new understandings of race and ethnicity.