Nomi Ostrander (she/they) is an associate professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She earned her PhD in Disability Studies from the University of Illinois Chicago, an MSW from the University of Chicago, and an MPH from DePaul University.
Nomi’s research examines how gender, sexuality, and embodiment shape people’s experiences of themselves, their intimate lives, and their relationships with others. She is particularly interested in how people who live outside dominant social expectations understand themselves, navigate change, experience intimacy and pleasure, and build meaningful lives within social and institutional contexts that often marginalize or constrain them. Her current scholarship centers transgender and queer communities and examines gender transition, sexual and relational lives, and the impact of changing social and political conditions. She directs the TRANSFORM (Transgender Futures through Outreach, Resilience, and Meaning-Making) Lab, where she works with undergraduate and graduate students from across disciplines to advance this work.
Nomi is also a sex- and kink-positive therapist who primarily works with transgender, nonbinary, and queer individuals and their partners.