Nichole L Morris

Nichole L Morris is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, College of Science and Engineering. Her work lies at the intersection of human factors, transportation systems, and safety engineering, with a strong emphasis on driver and pedestrian behavior in real-world and simulated environments.

Her research interests include human factors in automated driving systems (particularly Level 2 automation), pedestrian accessibility and safety—especially for individuals with disabilities—work zone safety, snowplow alert systems, and augmented reality applications in roadway environments. She also investigates medical training procedures, such as combat tourniquet application, reflecting interdisciplinary applications of human performance analysis.

The most recent publications highlight a consistent focus on driver behavior under novel conditions, including interactions with automated vehicles, responses to specialized infrastructure like J-turns and snowplow lighting, and usability of augmented reality tools for work zones. These works span high-impact journals in transportation and ergonomics, indicating strong scholarly engagement.

Dr. Morris serves as Principal Investigator on numerous active projects funded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Metro Transit Commission. These grants support research on crosswalk accessibility, driver readiness in automated systems, customer experience in public transit, and next-generation auditory alerts for snowplows. Her collaborative network includes researchers from Virginia Tech and interdisciplinary teams at the University of Minnesota.

She has contributed two datasets to the University of Minnesota Data Repository, one on work-zone messaging in driving simulations and another on sound localization for bicycle alarms, supporting open science. She has also provided expert commentary in media discussions on traffic safety and policing.