Bachelor of Architecture student Nicole (Nikki) Perry is the 2026 winner of the LSU Purple Award, an LSU Student Employee of the Year honor.

The LSU Student Employee program aims to recognize students who go above and beyond in their role. “A student’s exceptional effort could be demonstrated through a variety of contributions including communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and leadership.” Winners of the Purple Award “excel in areas like Innovation, Creativity, Research, Unique Contribution,” according to the LSU Olinde Career Center.

“Please join us in congratulating Nikki and Maddi on this well-deserved recognition. Their work reflects the highest standards of excellence and embodies what it means to be a leader at LSU,” the LSU Olinde Career Center said in a statement.

Nikki serves as a student research assistant in the Caribbean Spatial Justice Lab, directed by Fabio Capra-Ribeiro, assistant professor at LSU School of Architecture, where she has made exceptional contributions across two complex initiatives: a multi-phase Delphi study of Gulf Coast environmental nonprofits (Learning from Adversity: Transforming Louisiana’s Coastal Health Challenges into Regional Solutions) and the Student Sustainability Fund–supported Living Pods project.

“Most student employees excel in one lane. Nicole bridges human-subjects research operations and interdisciplinary design and fabrication, contributing to two complex projects run reliably,” Capra-Ribeiro said.

On the nonprofit study, Nikki anchors the full research operation, managing recruitment, coordinating multi-round survey administration, onboarding participants, and ensuring every phase advances on time and with integrity, Capra-Ribeiro said. When early recruitment threatened the project’s viability, she helped execute a strategic pivot, expanding the sampling frame from 35 Louisiana nonprofits to over 50 Gulf Coast organizations across multiple states and completing the IRB amendment required to proceed. She then rebuilt the Qualtrics survey logic that links individual responses across Delphi rounds, eliminating recurring errors and reducing rework. 

In Living Pods, she integrates a team that engages biodiversity and One Health considerations. Together, they took a leading role in designing the insect-hotel components and explore digital fabrication methods to move the group from concepts to buildable prototypes.

“She has become a key member of a team whose students share what they learn among themselves, organize their own time, and make significant progress with minimal guidance from faculty,” he said.

Nikki said she was surprised to learn she had received the award. “There were a lot of incredibly talented nominees, so I was certainly not expecting to hear my own name. I was very honored to have received such an accolade and have my work in the Caribbean Spatial Justice Lab with Dr. Fabio Capra-Ribeiro recognized. I’m proud to represent the College of Art & Design and the School of Architecture this way!”

In addition to her roles as an undergraduate researcher, Nicole is also a student in the Ogden Honors College and communications director for the Students for Historic Preservation student organization.

This year’s Gold Award went to Maddi Sansoucie.

Learn more about the LSU School of Architecture.

Learn more about the LSU Olinde Career Center.