Elena Powell

Undergraduate Fellow, Team Skeet

As a former SIFTer [Shaw Institute for Field Training], and TERA [Tyson Environmental Research Apprentice], Elena Powell returns to Tyson with the Mosquito Team before starting her first year at Northern Arizona University. 

What inspired you to pursue a major in environmental sciences? 

“I was recommended to SIFT by a friend who did it the year before. I needed money, so I was working for SIFT and Panera at the same time. But while I worked my Panera shifts, I really just wanted to be at my environmental job. SIFT has optional field workdays and I went to almost every single one. My love for environmental studies really started with SIFT.

I enjoyed SIFT so much the first year and decided to become a TERA because there was more lab work involved, which I didn’t get to do in my other jobs. I enjoyed the idea of having a mix between both a field-heavy job and a lab-heavy job.” 

Having done both, which is your favorite aspect of research? 

“Being paid to stop and smell the roses and take the time to understand our environment is special. Fieldwork lets me have moments of stillness to empty my brain. I’m still thinking, but being in nature allows me to pause and think in an intentional way.”