Dr. Ashley E. Nickels is an associate professor in the School of Peace and Conflict Studies at Kent State University. A political scientist working at the intersection of public policy, governance, and civic power, her scholarship examines democracy in practice—how institutions, communities, and civic actors negotiate, contest, and reshape power within urban political environments. Her work has been recognized with national awards, including the American Political Science Association’s Robert A. Dahl Award, as well as fellowships such as the Democracy Visiting Fellowship at Harvard University’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

Dr. Nickels has published extensively on community development, urban governance, and democratic praxis, and serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Administrative Theory & Praxis, a leading journal in public administration theory. She regularly collaborates with civic and community leaders to strengthen democratic learning and advance public scholarship across academic and community settings.

From October 27 through December 3, 2025, she supports Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) in Depok, West Java, by providing a curriculum review for the political science and public policy graduate programs, training on mixed methods research, and a series of workshops and seminars on public scholarship and publishing in higher education.