Meet Nicole Mölders

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Mölders a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

As far as I can look back, there were two things I was particularly passionate about: Art and the sciences. In kindergarten, a group project required painting a street scene on a wall-sized paper with crayons. One of the kids had painted a tree with a twig wider than the stem. To correct this mistake, I widened the stem, thereby painting over some parts painted by another kid. Of course, this caused a fight, but I stood my ground: it didn’t spoil the painting; I corrected it. Later, when in elementary school, I insisted on watching the Moon Landings. I was particularly impressed by the Apollo 13 story, and drew space crafts and aliens. My dad was into shortwave radio. At the dining table, he reported on a broadcast. It said that diverting the Siberian Rivers southward for desert irrigation would alter the climate. I asked why doing so would change the climate. He responded that it wasn;t said. Land-surface changes and their impact on weather remained in my head. My dad also taught me perspective drawing and oil painting. In 13th grade, my parents and I discussed what I would study. I was torn between art and science, while my dad wanted me to study law. My mom suggested I study meteorology and pursue art as a hobby. I realized that meteorology ideally combines my interests, including drawing (at that time, weather maps still were hand-analyzed). So I studied meteorology and later took silversmithing classes for fun while I was a graduate student. After retiring from the university as an Emerita of atmospheric science (I am still research-active), I began studying watercolor painting. My favorite subjects to paint are atmospheric phenomena and landscapes. In 2025, I participated in an exhibition, the first time after my paintings being exhibited when I was in High School.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

All my life, I have been very excited to explore the intersection of fashion, lifestyle, art, and science to unveil the symmetry between creativity and innovation. Currently, I am pursuing research on insolation under changed atmospheric conditions together with Prof. Dr. Kramm. Furthermore, I study painting with Shayla Sackinger and Vladimir Zhikhartsev. In 2013, I started my fashion blog High Latitude Style to educate how to dress stylishly and for thermal comfort in cold climate regions. Over time, this blog covering the art of dressing extended to a fashion and lifestyle blog. I wrote a book about How to Dress for Success in Midlife and a popular science book to Discover the Relation between Fashion, Fabric, Weather, and Thermal Comfort. Note that I also wrote a science book on Land-Use and Land-Cover Changes -Impacts on Climate and Air Quality, and co-authored a science textbook with Prof. Dr. Kramm -Lectures in Meteorology. I am currently writing a book about the Alaska lifestyle, which will include some of my watercolor paintings of Alaska. Note that my business, High Latitude Style, also sells original paintings.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Looking back, one of my strongest skills has been logical thinking, which facilitated learning math, physics, geophysical sciences, programming, computer visualization of data, and numerical modeling -all pre-requisites needed for pursuing research in atmospheric sciences. Computer visualization techniques are also relevant for digital art and fashion design. It also helps grasping concepts quickly.

Second, my multi-language skills. Since 5th, 9th, and 11th grade, I learned English, Latin, and French. When my parents didn’t want us kids to know what they were talking about, they spoke Dutch. Of course, my siblings and I weren’t blindsided by this for long, but we never told them we knew what they’d been talking about. Having a strong language background helps to express your ideas, convey your results, and write them down. It helps fund your research and art ideas, publish your results, and write books.

Third, my creativity. It is essential for pursuing art, carrying out projects, and conducting research.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

I would do exactly what I do today.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Gerhard Kramm

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