Nicola Walters

I teach about environmental politics, political institutions, and social movements, and I am especially interested in how communities organize in response to social and ecological change. My teaching and research draw from interdisciplinary training in political science, social science, and speech and debate, with a strong emphasis on place-based learning, relational inquiry, and community engagement.

After graduating from Northern Arizona University in 2010, I worked as a campaign office manager for the Arizona Democratic Party and former U.S. Representative Ann Kirkpatrick. I later spent several years teaching social studies and English in Thailand, an experience that deepened my interest in comparative politics, education, and cross-cultural learning. I returned to the United States in 2012 and found my way to Northern California.

While I now live in Oregon, my academic and civic work remains deeply connected to Northern California and the North Coast. While completing my M.A. in Social Science at Cal Poly Humboldt, I focused my research on local political histories, including social movements, cannabis agriculture, and cultural work that have shaped the region’s socio-environmental landscape. I continue to engage as a community organizer, educator, artist, and doctoral student, exploring how diverse ways of knowing can inform more just, regenerative relationships among people, place, and the more-than-human world.