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Nickolas M. Jones

Nickolas M. Jones

Project Scientist, Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine

Biography

Nickolas M. Jones, Ph.D., is Project Scientist in the Department of Psychological Science at the University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on the psychological and behavioral effects of collective trauma, with particular attention to the role of media exposure — including social media — in shaping public responses to mass violence, natural disasters, and public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. He has contributed to multiple longitudinal, nationally representative studies of Americans' responses to collective stress, and his work has been published in outlets including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, American Psychologist, and Science Advances.

Jones brings expertise in large-scale quantitative methods to his research, employing big data analytics, machine learning, text analytics, and multilevel modeling to study population-level responses to crisis events. He has held academic positions at Princeton University and UC Irvine, and worked concurrently as a Data Scientist at Equip Health, where he applied advanced statistical and machine learning methods to clinical data in the eating disorder treatment space.

Jones received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of California, Irvine. His research has received media coverage from outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Southern California Public Radio, and Mashable.

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Education

  • Ph.D. in Social Psychology, University of California, Irvine, 2018
  • M.A. in Psychology, California State University, Fullerton, 2011
  • B.A. in Psychology, California State University, Fullerton, 2009
  • A.A. in Social Science, Santiago Canyon College, 2007
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Distinctions

  • 3rd Place Citation Poster, Contemporary Pain-Health Interfaces channel, American Psychosomatic Society Virtual Meeting, 2020
  • Martha Newkirk Award for Excellence in Research by a Graduate Student, School of Social Ecology, 2018
  • Graduate Student Mentoring Award, School of Social Ecology, 2018
  • Graduate Student Mentoring Award, 2014-2015
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Areas of Expertise

  • Collective Trauma And Crisis Psychology
  • Social Media Emotional Expression
  • Mass Violence Community Impact
  • Media Exposure Psychological Distress
  • COVID-19 Longitudinal Health Behaviors
  • Eating Disorder Clinical Outcomes
  • Awe Prosocial Effects

Recent Publications

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Contact Information

Email: nmjones@uci.edu

Phone: (949) 824-4469

Address: 252 Berk Hall

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This profile was created with the help of AI.

Last updated on 9/11/2026.