Nicole Heller is Associate Curator of Anthropocene Studies for Carnegie Museum of Natural History. She is a transdisciplinary professional focused on improving cultural and ecological sustainability. Heller received her Ph.D. from Stanford University in Biological Sciences in 2005, and a B.A. from Princeton University in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 1995. She conducted postdoctoral research in the Environmental Studies Department at University of California, Santa Cruz.

At the museum, her primary research is concerned with understanding and promoting biological diversity in the face of global changes associated with the anthropocene. 

Heller’s secondary focus of research and practice is about creative, effective environmental communication. At the museum, Heller is collaborating with designers, learning scientists, artists, and anthropologists to develop participatory, empowering informal science education and community engagements.