Elise Miller ‘23 is a double major in Data Science and Applied Statistics while minoring in Spanish. In Fall 2022, she will be a fourth year member of The Data Mine at Purdue as well as being an Events and Planning Organizer for the computer science organization, LaunchPad Purdue.

Elise works in the Organization for Human Animal Interaction Research and Education (OHAIRE) Lab as the Lead Data-Focused Undergraduate Research Assistant, which includes tasks such as data cleaning, merging data sets, statistical analysis, and presentation of findings. She also helps coordinate tasks for the Lab’s data team, which includes four other data-focused undergraduates, like documentation of work, progress tracking towards overarching goals, and connecting everyone to the resources they need.

The OHAIRE Lab studies human-animal interaction and the human-animal bond. Most of Elise’s work has centered around their NIH-funded clinical trial that aims to quantify the effectiveness of PTSD service dogs as a complementary intervention for veterans with PTSD, and to learn more about the relationship between the service dogs and the humans with whom they interact.

“Many of the effects of the human-animal bond are often only acknowledged in stories of personal experience, so in my role I help produce statistics that have the potential to support and strengthen these ideas.”

Elise Miller ’23

When speaking about how she got started in research, she mentioned it was during her sophomore year at Purdue that she was interested in applying her data science skills to real-world experiences. She came across the opportunity for the OHAIRE Lab in an email and was very interested in the opportunity. She was even happier that the study she would be participating in was one in which she could possibly make a positive contribution to those with invisible disabilities, something with which she had become very familiar having struggled with an autoimmune disease that affected her nerve function in the summer right before her sophomore year.

“When I first heard about this study, the most exciting thing for me was the opportunity to potentially help those with invisible disabilities by learning about and validating their experiences,” Elise shared.

This fall will be the start of her third year with the Lab. During her time, her research mentors have included Principal Investigator at the O’Haire Lab, Dr. Maggie O’Haire, and her graduate students: Leanne Nieforth Bomkamp, Clare Jensen, and Sarah Leighton. Elise would attest that they have taught her everything she knows about the research process through their guidance, feedback, and example.

Elise explains further, “Perhaps the best way they have influenced me has been by making me a more confident, curious, and scientifically-minded person through always encouraging me to share my ideas and showing me endless support in all my endeavors.”

“Remember that you are the expert about the work you have done!”

Elise Miller ’23

When asked about her advice for students that will present at upcoming research conferences, Elise advises, “Remember that you are the expert about the work you have done! Instead of trying to memorize something to say that you may forget (or that may make you nervous about forgetting), just explain your process how you would explain it to a friend or someone familiar.”