Elise is a first-year PhD student working with Dr. Eva Lefkowitz. She grew up in Seattle, but moved to Utah to attend Brigham Young University (BYU). At BYU, Elise graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and minor in Global Women’s Studies. At BYU, she worked as a head teaching assistant for several courses, including human development and gender development, where she developed a love for studying gender and sexuality across childhood and adolescence. Working with Dr. Adam Rogers and his research team on Project ADEPT (Advancing the Development of Emotional Proficiencies in Teens), Elise completed her minor capstone studying the relationship dynamics of parents and their sexual-minority teens. She presented this project and two other projects focused on gender issues at the Mary Lou Fulton Conference held by BYU. Through her teaching and research experience at BYU, she developed a passion for both practices that fueled her desire to pursue further education and eventually become a professor.
At UConn, Elise aims to further study how children and adolescents understand and express gender and sexuality throughout their development. Specifically, she wants to investigate the influence that parents and families have on their children’s understanding of these concepts. She is fascinated by the intersection of family life and social development: how parents and families help shape their kids’ perceptions of social norms and roles. Through studying these topics, Elise hopes to translate research into practice by providing parents with guidance on how to better communicate about gender and sexuality with their kids in a healthy, inclusive, and accepting manner.
Although she aims to teach at the university level, Elise loves working directly with infants and children. For two years, she volunteered at Family Haven in the crisis nursery and helped provide children of all ages with respite care. Over the summer, she also worked at a childcare center as a teacher with infants aged 6-12 months. While she loved learning about child development in the classroom, she found it even more insightful to witness the immense growth and personality development made at this age in such a short time.