Tiffany Nichols
Assistant Professor,
History
Assistant Professor,
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Contact
- ti.nichols@northeastern.edu
- 360 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115
Research Focus
Siting and design of large-scale infrastructure, environmental management informed by law, policy, engineering, and science and technology studies
About
Tiffany Nichols is a historian of science, technology, and the environment. Her current book manuscript focuses on the siting history of large-scale instruments and science facilities, such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), and how surrounding natural and built environments become embedded within the outputs of these instruments. Specifically, she explores how physicists distinguish gravitational wave signal from noise generated by the instrument and its surrounding environment. Broadly, she is interested in research topics at the intersection of history, science, technology, environment, and law. Nichols holds a joint appointment between the Department of History in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the College of Engineering. She is currently a Legacy Survey of Space and Time Discovery Alliance Catalyst Faculty Fellow.
Education
- PhD, History of Science, Harvard University
- JD, University of Virginia School of Law
Leadership Positions
- Early-Career Representative, History and Philosophy of Science (L), American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2025-Present, 2025-Present
- Vice-Chair, American Astronomical Society, History of Astronomy Division, 2025-Present
- Co-Vice Chair of the Policy Division, American Astronomical Society, Committee for the Protection of Astronomy and the Space Environment, 2024-Present
- Member, American Astronomical Society, Committee for the Protection of Astronomy and the Space Environment, 2024-Present
- Member-at-large, American Physical Society, Forum on the History of Philosophy and Physics, 2021-2024
Professional Affiliations
- American Historical Association
- American Astronomical Society
- American Physical Society
- American Society for Environment History
- History of Science Society
- Society for the History of Technology
Research Overview
Siting and design of large-scale infrastructure, environmental management informed by law, policy, engineering, and science and technology studies
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- (forthcoming) “‘One of the best sites on the East Coast’: When LIGO Might Have Been in the Blueberry Barrens of Maine,” Isis 116, no. 3 (2025).
- “Hidden in Plain Sight: Discerning Signal from Noise in the Expanded Laboratory Environment.” Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences54, no. 3 (2024): 335–364. doi: 10.1525/hsns.2024.54.3.335
Aug 14, 2024
New Faculty Spotlight: Tiffany Nichols
Tiffany Nichols joins the Civil and Environmental Engineering department in August 2024 as an Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in History.