Nicole Thomas traveled the world, learned four languages and held an array of professions before deciding to study science at UNM.
The future volcanologist was born in Mexico City and followed her father, an international banker, and mother, a TV/radio journalist, to places like Panama, Jamaica and Hong Kong. She attended high school in Hong Kong, skipped several grades and graduated at 16 with plans to pursue an art degree, but she dropped out of CU-Boulder when she was 17.
Between then and now, Thomas watched one husband die of lung cancer and another go to jail. She had three children, pursued her art passion and worked in many jobs including a yoga instructor to a personal trainer.
“I’ve had a lot of unique circumstances in my life,” she said. “My first husband died of lung cancer while my son had leukemia, so I’ve been through a lot of stuff, and I think going back to school is probably one of the best things I could do for myself.”
Thomas was living in Taos when she decided to pursue a science degree at UNM, but because her high school transcripts were lost in Hong Kong she couldn’t get in.
“All I had was my diploma, not my transcripts, and because I graduated so young, no one believed me,” she said. “Since I had graduated, Hong Kong had gone from being a British territory to part of mainland China, so I was on the phone with the minister of international education in Hong Kong for weeks trying to acquire these transcripts, which were nowhere to be found.”
Thomas was waiting tables when then-UNM President David Harris came in for breakfast. She said she recognized an opportunity.
“I waited until he finished eating his eggs, and I approached him and told him my story … and he said, ‘Let me make some phone calls. Give me your number,’” Thomas said. “That day, I had three calls from admissions while I was still at the restaurant waiting tables.”
Thomas is studying geology under a grant from the National Science Foundation. She expects to graduate next May and has applied to graduate school in Hawaii, where she hopes to get her master’s degree in volcanography.
Her dream job is to work for the Volcano Disaster Awareness Program, and Thomas said she has always been fascinated with volcanoes.
“I’ve always loved magma,” she said. “I know it sounds weird, but whenever I was upset or had hard times, my comfort zone was thinking of a big hot pool of magma. … So I thought, ‘Maybe I want to be a volcanologist.’”
In addition to her studies, Thomas works 15-25 hours a week as a hydrologic technician for the United States Geological Survey at the New Mexico Water Science Center.
Michael Carlson, one of Thomas’ co-workers, said she does everything from equipment upkeep to processing water quality samples.
“Nicole is a very hard worker with an interesting sense of humor,” Carlson said. “She is quick to learn new skills, and she seems to budget her time well between school, work and family.”
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In between her studies, job and family life, Thomas makes time for her favorite hobbies, which include skateboarding and Kung Fu.
Thomas said she was introduced to Kung Fu through a class at UNM and expects to earn her black belt within a year.
Sifu Abram Tamez, Thomas’ Kung Fu instructor, said she is a dedicated and enthusiastic student.
“Nicole is a determined woman who seems to overcome any obstacle that is thrown at her,” Tamez said. “She is resilient, strong and seems to enjoy a challenge.”
Another of Thomas’ hobbies is listening to death-metal music, which she said explains her pink hair, tattoos, platform boots and concert T-shirts.
“I’ve always been a metal head … I’ve been to all the recent shows … I was at the GWAR show and came out with, like, two black eyes,” she said. ”I loved it.”
