People

Biography

Tiffany Nichols is a Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow and LSST-DA Catalyst Fellow in the Departments of History and Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. She focuses on the intersection of the history of physics, astrophysics, and astronomy, environmental history, and legal history.  Nichols’s research focuses on how physicists and astronomers understand noise and disturbances originating from the natural and built environment and its effects on highly precise and sensitive instruments and research endeavors, such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). She holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and J.D. from the University of Virginia and an A.M. and Ph.D. in History of Science from Harvard University, where she was a graduate student member of the Black Hole Initiative, advised by Peter Galison. Nichols also has extensive experience in intellectual property litigation and related areas of law prior to her Ph.D. studies. She is currently advised by Laura Edwards, Class of 1921 Bicentennial Professor in the History of American Law and Liberty and Professor of History in the Department of History and Michael Strauss, Chair of the Department of Astrophysical Sciences and Professor of Astrophysical Sciences.