Nick Obradovich is a computational behavioral scientist who studies how environmental factors and emerging technologies shape human behavior and well-being. He is the Chief Scientist for Environmental Mental Health at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, where he investigates how various stressors influence cognition, mood, and mental health outcomes.
Nick’s experience spans academic research, private-sector innovation, and nonprofit leadership. He has served as Director and Chief Scientist at Project Regeneration, Senior Research Scientist and Principal Investigator at the Max Planck Society, and Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab. He also co-founded a machine behavior startup spun out of the MIT Media Lab. He is affiliated with the University of Tulsa as a Research Assistant Professor and with the MIT Sustainable Urbanization Lab as a Research Affiliate.
By integrating data science, computational methods, and behavioral science, Nick has published on topics ranging from the effects of heat waves and daily weather on mental health, sleep, and governance to bias in AI, detection of manipulated media, and strategies for studying machine behavior. His research appears in leading journals—including Nature, The Lancet, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences—and has been covered by major outlets such as The New York Times, CNN, BBC, and The Wall Street Journal.
Nick earned his PhD at the University of California, San Diego, and completed postdoctoral training at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. His work has been supported by organizations including the National Science Foundation, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and OpenAI.