Faculty and Staff

Prof. Brasil is a native of the Azores Island (Portugal) and was raised and educated in California. He earned B.A. in History and International Politics from California State University, Stanislaus and M.A. and C. Phil from the University of California Santa Barbara.

He is a specialist in Modern European, Latin American and U.S. History with areas of emphasis on Spain and Portugal, Brazil, Eastern Europe and the History of Christianity. He taught many courses in these fields at Colleges and Universities of the Northwest.

Dr. Brad Codr is currently an associate professor of Anthropology and co-chair of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Division at North Idaho College.

Brad received his B.A. in Anthropology and Sociology from the University of Idaho, then completed his M.A. there before earning a Ph.D. at Purdue University. While completing his graduate work he had the opportunity to teach and came to thoroughly enjoy it.

Growing up on a small farm and completing his education in the state of Idaho gave Brad an appreciation for both the opportunities and unique challenges facing students in the state. After graduate school he taught at Purdue University and University of Idaho as a temporary instructor before coming to NIC in 2012. While Dr. Codr has broad training in all four sub-fields of anthropology his area of expertise is cultural anthropology with emphasis in the anthropology of religion.

When Brad is not teaching he enjoys spending time with family, camping, playing any competitive sport, volunteering at his daughter's school, working outside, and occasionally binge watching new Hulu or Netflix originals. As co-chair of the SBS Division, Dr. Codr is available to help address any questions or concerns you may have about your experience at NIC. If unable to answer specific questions he can direct you to appropriate contacts and resources so feel free to reach out.

Myra has been teaching psychology classes for North Idaho College since 2003. She received her AS from North Idaho College and her BS and MS in clinical psychology from the University of Idaho. Prior to her teaching career, Myra was involved in private practice with families as well as those suffering from chronic mental illness. In the recent past, Myra has collaborated with faculty from the University of Idaho conducting research regarding adolescents and substance abuse. Outside of the classroom, Myra is a 4-H leader, an avid equestrian and farmer raising American Wagyu beef, sport ponies and doodle dogs.

As the senior member of the department, Victor Duarte thinks he can say that he has witnessed much change at NIC during the many years he has taught here. Nevertheless, he says he knows the one constant will be that he will have new students each semester. This is the appeal of teaching, a new beginning each semester.

Duarte has graduate degrees in Counseling and Educational Psychology from the University of Idaho and the University of Minnesota respectively. His undergraduate degree in Psychology is from San Francisco State University. For years, he has been in charge of teaching the research class for psychology and other social science majors. Research methodology and quantitative methods are two of his strongest interest areas within psychology, along with mood disorders, psychopharmacology, learning, and issues related to minority populations. In addition to the research class, Duarte teaches the introductory, lifespan, and abnormal psychology classes.

Kelly Fitzsimmons is a North Idaho native who started his higher education at NIC. After obtaining his bachelor's degree from Idaho State University and master's degree from Eastern Washington University, NIC won as my favorite institution. He feels privileged to teach SOWK 240 and 241 at NIC after working for 13 years as a professional social worker.

His experience includes independent living, nephrology, mental health, and early childhood intervention social work services. Part of his academic responsibilities are with Lewis Clark State College as the Faculty Field Liaison supervising the internships for social work program seniors and teaching the senior seminar class. He enjoys spending time in the great outdoors with his wife and three young children fly fishing, hunting, camping and cutting firewood.

Travis joined the faculty of North Idaho College in the fall of 2019. He received a B.A. In Political Science from the University of Georgia, his M.A. in Political Science from Appalachian State University, and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Nevada, Reno. His dissertation examined how the scope of political representation has evolved through the development of social media, specifically focusing on how a candidate's Twitter usage affects their campaign donations. Travis teaches various political science courses including American National Government, State and Local Government, and International Politics and Problems.

Prior to entering the academic field, Travis was an avid cyclist who traveled the world racing his bicycle. Due to his past experiences, Travis savors the lifestyle that northern Idaho provides. While he is not teaching, Travis enjoys all things outdoors. This includes mountain biking and hiking in the summer and skiing adventures in the winter.

Dr. Jewell, who holds degrees from Eastern Washington University (bachelors and masters) and West Virginia University (doctorate), arrived at North Idaho College in . . . well, it was a long time ago. He has taught or currently teaches: HIST 102, HIST 111, HIST 112, HIST 208A and 208B, HIST 223, HIST 290, and INTR 250A. Prior to coming to NIC he taught at five colleges or universities, split between the West and East coasts, but not the middle of the country (however, he is willing to do so: "Has notes, will travel.").

Dr. Jewell is an active scholar, with a primary emphasis on military history. Through his more than two dozen published works he has focused on topics as wide ranging as the role played by Chinese immigrants in the Pacific Northwest economy in the late 1800s and early 1900s, contemporary Native American dance, the Civil War, the American West, WWI, WWII and the First Iraq War.

Finally, about to surrender his NASCAR certified dad taxi license after 22 years of service he plans to stay in the slow lane and enjoy the ride.

His arch nemeses are multi lane roundabouts in foreign countries and long lines at drive through espresso stands (both of which must be eliminated from this earth).

Now on the down side of life's sun dial, he plans to spend more time thinking about finding more time to do everything he has to do each day, and to finally find out how to get more than five hours of sleep per night.

Kathleen has spent the past 32 years working with early childhood providers, students, educators, community agencies, young children and their families as a teacher, trainer, mentor, author and advocate.

In her 21 years in Idaho, she's been an IdahoSTARS trainer; a mentor/coach for the Mentors for Early Childhood Education program; an Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale assessor; and was one of the first people in Idaho to be certified through the National Training Institute for Child Care Health Consultants (NTICCHC) as a Child Care Health Consultant Trainer.

Since 2005, Kathleen has worked as a full-time faculty member in Child Development at NIC. She says that "kids are my life", and between her professional pursuits and over 140 nieces and nephews (between her and her husband), she lives that motto every day.

John Reese is the head of the Criminal Justice program at North Idaho College and teaches many of our law and politics related courses. John graduated from North Idaho College in 2001, later went on to University of Idaho for undergraduate studies and then finally the University of Idaho Law school, graduating with his Juris Doctorate degree in 2006.

After graduation John took and passed both the Washington and Idaho bar exams consecutively. He then went to work with a private law firm, Nordstrom and Nees, in Spokane, Washington before eventually opening his own law firm with offices in both Spokane and Coeur d Alene. Since coming to North Idaho College John has reduced his practice to focus on teaching.

John is also a highly physically active individual. When not at NIC he works as a helicopter and backcountry ski guide, runs ultramarathons (Tahoe 200 most recently), adores mountain biking, rock climbs and is an all-around lover of all things outdoors. Chances are you can either find him in one of his two favorite places: his office at NIC or in the wilds of North Idaho.

Lesley Schoch spent most of her career teaching preschool. She loved every minute of the 26 years she spent in the early childhood classroom, being curious, joyful, and making messes. Her life took a turn when she was asked to teach a series of trainings to teachers and child care providers on her favorite topic… kids! She discovered that she enjoyed teaching adults as much as she loved teaching children and decided to take the next step in her career, getting the degree necessary to teach college.

Lesley has an undergraduate degree in Family Life and Child Development from the University of Akron in her home state of Ohio. She also earned a Master of Education in Early Childhood Curriculum and Instruction from Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass.

She is married to her best friend, Ray, and together they have created four unique children, who in turn have given them four amazing grandchildren. Lesley says that she is truly blessed to have a loving family and a career that she loves.

Tricia Sigstad was born in the culturally vibrant city of San Diego. Shortly after completing a Bachelor of Science degree in Allied Health from National University in 2013, she decided to move to beautiful North Idaho. In 2014, Tricia began a position as the administrative assistant for the Kootenai County Office of Emergency Management which included processing State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) Grant applications for first responder agencies.

She came to realize that she had a passion for serving others and desired a career where she could serve others in her daily work. It is because of this passion that Tricia has come to cherish her position as the Sr. Administrative Assistant serving the faculty of the Social and Behavioral Sciences division at North Idaho College beginning in May 2017. Aside from her professional life, she is also the mother of two wonderful children and enjoys baking, hiking, going to the movies and working on arts and crafts.

Nicole Willms has been teaching sociology at NIC since 2019. She received her B.A. in Sociology/Anthropology and Spanish from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Virginia. She later completed her studies at the University of Southern California where she received her Master's and PhD in Sociology, with a certificate in Gender Studies. Willms' research focuses on the intersection of gender and race in American Sports.

Her 2017 book, When Women Rule the Court: Gender, Race, and Japanese American Basketball explores a community context that produced stellar female athletes and new understandings about gender and sport.

Her next project will examine the depictions of female athletes in young adult literature. Born in Seattle, and resident of Spokane since 2011, Willms considers herself a Northwesterner at heart. Her favorite activities are jogging, kayaking, reading fiction, spending time with friends and family, and dabbling in her favorite sport, basketball, as a player, fan or coach.