Elliott Smith

he/him
Forest Technician
Forest Biodiversity Team

Can you describe some of the research you’ve done in the past?

In undergrad I did a variety of things. Some were environmental studies type things, mostly lit reviews that I was doing for grad students. I looked at the effect of anthropogenic noise on birds, community forestry in Nepal, the way that sustainability education was reported on in the media, just a bunch of random stuff. I kind of said yes to everything. Then I started to hone in on field and lab work. I worked at Michigan’s Museum of Zoology in an insect lab, where I was pinning and preparing wasp specimens, which is where my love for microscopy started. I did some grassland field work, mostly looking at plant-insect interactions, specifically herbivory and how that affects biodiversity. I spent a summer at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, where I modeled bee movement under climate change. That was cool. Probably my favorite.

How does Tyson feel similar to or different from those experiences?

My closest analog to Tyson was a similar field station in Michigan, but that was much more centered around instruction. They have classes there during the summer, a few people doing research, but the majority of the people there are students. So it’s really cool being at Tyson, where everyone you run into is involved with cool research, and there are all these different teams working on interesting things that you can talk about.

How might this summer inform your future work?

Honest answer? I do like field work, but I also like lab work. Spending every day outside is rewarding and unique, and something that I’m sure I’ll look back on fondly. But I’m excited for the career stage where I can do more of a mixture of things. I really like doing scope work, looking at little things under a microscope and picking out tiny features that you wouldn’t notice otherwise. I think that’s just because it’s what I know, what I’ve done a lot of. I’ve gotten into the mindset where that’s fun for me. I’m sure with time I’ll just wanna be out in the forest measuring trees. Once you do something a lot, you sort of fall in love with it.

What’s your favorite research-related task?

Seed sorting. [This shocked the interviewer.] Yeah. It’s that same captive, Stockholm Syndrome thing. I’ve done so many years sitting at a desk and sorting things with my tweezers. At this point, I just think, this is great, this is what I like doing. [Elliott laughs]

What do you do outside of Tyson?

I feel like I’m slowly adding things back to my life, now that I’ve moved to St. Louis. I’ve finished all the move-in, get-the-apartment-ready stuff. I like to cook. I try to go for a run twice a week. I really love music, listening to music, playing my bass guitar, making little electronic songs on my computer with GarageBand. Went to a live show last week, my first one here, which was awesome. I’m gonna try to do more of that. Honestly, what I do most often is walk over to Tower Grove Park, hang out, read a book, talk to a friend on the phone. I guess that’s pretty much it right now. I think I’ve built my life back up, and those are my go-to things.