Research Spotlight: Elisabeth Reed

Elisabeth Reed is a senior Honors College student participating in public health research that exemplifies what it means to immerse yourself in research here at ECU and abroad.

One of the most impactful research projects Elisabeth participated in during her time at ECU is work with COVID-19 and menstruation in Nepal. “Menstruation is such a pressing issue in a lot of South Asian countries, and it can be a barrier to many adolescent girls,” she said.

Reed studied how COVID-19 affected this in terms of policy change and equality. She emphasizes that community involvement is one of the most important aspects of research. “You can really figure out what the community needs and do work that it relevant to the population,” she said.

To Reed, research is a form of service. Finding the research that you believe will make the biggest impact is very important. “You really have to explore,” she emphasized, “talk around, look at research projects, think about what you might do in the future, and about what is important to you.”

Reed advises students looking for research opportunities to simply ASK! “Failure is fine, and I am fully embracing that.”


Wednesday, March 22nd marks ECU’s 7th Pirate Nation Gives. On this special day, we encourage Pirates from all over the world to come together in supporting ECU. The Honors College is choosing to highlight our priority fund for this year’s PNG. The Honors College Priority Fund allows us to positively impact the lives of our students and support them in their research, fellowship, and internship experiences; service initiatives; leadership development; and study abroad endeavors. Interested in supporting research-focused students like Elisabeth?

Click Here to Support Honors for PNG