She joined the faculty at Kent State immediately upon graduating with her PhD from the University of Georgia in 2000. Her dissertation involved how uncertainty is processed by hospice volunteers as framed through Problematic Integration Theory. Before that, Nichole completed her BA at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL, with a double major in Biology and Speech Communication, and her MA at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA. As in her dissertation, Nichole's early research centered on social support in health contexts.