Nichole Morris's main research interests are in human factors of transportation safety, especially as it relates to in-vehicle technologies, pedestrian and non-motorist safety, safety data collection, gender biases in trauma care, and work-zone safety. Her most recent research has examined interactions between drivers and automated vehicles, pedestrian safety programs, work zone intrusion mitigation and documentation, rural intersection designs, police pursuits, vehicle collision detection and warnings with non-motorist road users, and in-vehicle displays for snowplow lane guidance. Her previous work has examined crash data collection, in-vehicle support systems for at-risk road users, in-vehicle messaging systems, connected vehicles warning systems, stakeholder support for automated speed enforcement, and lane departure warning systems.
Morris received a PhD in psychology (human factors) from Wichita State University in 2011. She is a research associate professor and the director of the HumanFIRST Laboratory in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Her other appointments include: associate graduate faculty, Infrastructure and Environmental Systems, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; graduate faculty, Human Factors and Ergonomics, College of Design, University of Minnesota; adjunct assistant professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Minnesota; adjunct assistant professor, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota.