Nicole R. Heim

Nicole R. Heim serves as an Associate Teaching Professor at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus. She earned her B.A. in Biology from Park University, her M.S. in Health Education from Purdue University Global, and her Master of Public Health from the University of Kansas School of Medicine, where she received honors for her research on pandemic preparedness. In October 2025, she completed her Doctor of Health Science at Purdue University Global, focusing on building research-informed workforce development and training programs aligned with Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) standards.

A veteran educator, Nicole has been teaching at the university level since 2009, most recently undergraduate Epidemiology and Research Methods for Health Science courses. Her leadership in academia includes serving as a Senator on the Faculty Senate and on the Faculty Curriculum Committee at Purdue University Global. Before transitioning to a full-time focus on education, she gained extensive field experience as an environmental health specialist and an emergency planner for two county-level health departments, and as the Associate Director of the Kansas Public Health Association (KPHA).

Nicole is a Fellow of the Kansas Public Health Leadership Institute and maintains active certifications as a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) and is Certified in Public Health (CPH). Her research interests include public health workforce development, pandemic readiness, and community health outcomes. She is deeply passionate about curriculum development, instructional design, and student assessment, having performed extensive work in ensuring educational outcomes through qualitative feedback and competency-based modular design.

Outside of her professional work, Nicole is an avid baker and foodie. She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband of over two decades, their three teenage daughters, and their beloved Cavachon.