Graduate Student Highlight: James Elliott
James Elliott, a second-year Master of Science student in the School of Forest Resources from Danvers, Massachusetts, enjoys scuba-diving and collecting insects in his free time.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like Pok茅mon but real,鈥 said Elliott, who worked in the biotech industry before coming to U海角社区.
Elliott enjoys getting out of his comfort zone. When he had the chance to work on an interdisciplinary study聽linking technical lab work with the social sciences, he was intrigued.
The project, researching the rate of tick-borne diseases in winter ticks and moose, parallels his interest in insects. An additional aspect of this interdisciplinary work is evaluating public perception of the risk of diseases from ticks, starting with the Native American community neighboring U海角社区.
鈥淟earning why humans do things, how they perceive things and how that aligns with what鈥檚 actually out there is kind of a fascinating topic,鈥 said Elliott. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 enough to pique my interest.鈥
Elliott appreciates the connections he has made with professors on campus. He says at U海角社区 he鈥檚 never felt like a burden or that he was bothering professors with questions or extra help. He believes these mentors are passionate about their work and happy to share their expertise.
鈥淚 really like that there鈥檚 a lot of new faculty at this point,鈥 said Elliott. 鈥淚 lucked out with having some awesome access [to professors].鈥
Written by Kendra Caruso
Media Contact Christel Peters, 207.581.3571