Drosophila Research Technician
melsbor@clemson.edu
Biosketch
Mille Elsborg is a recent graduate from Lander University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Psychology. Originally from Denmark, she moved to the United States to pursue her undergraduate education and competed as the captain of the Lander women’s tennis team. While at Lander she was a part of the Vertebrate Ecology Lab at Lander, where she worked with large ecological datasets studying mammal distribution and behavior. Here her latest research was How of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to explore environmental factors that shape mammal distributions in South Carolina. In the summer of 2024, she was an intern at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) where she conducted research on the reproductive biology and seasonality of the deep-sea corals using time lapse imagery systems. Mille is currently a part of the CUCHG Drosophila lab where she hopes to gain experience in genetics and molecular biology to deepen her interest in these fields and help shape her academic trajectory.
Research interests
My research interests lie within various fields of biology. I am fascinated by what shapes and affects organisms and understanding micro-level genetic mechanisms as well as macro-level ecological dynamics, driving my passion for research in genetics, molecular biology, and conservation. Through my bachelor’s degree, I have come to appreciate that biology is a complex interplay of processes, shaped by behavioral responses at a higher level and facilitated by intricate mechanisms at the microscopic level. It is also therefore I am especially drawn to the CUCHG Drosophila lab as it leverages the powerful genetic toolkit of fruit flies to study how cocaine influences gene expression and brain morphology aligning well with my desire to understand how external factors interact with internal biological systems. While my interests cover a wide range of topics, my overarching goal is to contribute to scientific knowledge that can ultimately help improve the world—whether through advancements in medicine, environmental resilience, or understanding the biological basis of behavior.
Publications
Elsborg, M., Barry, J. P., & Litvin, S. Y. (2024). The Life of a Polyp: Reproduction in a Deep-sea Coral. Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. https://www.mbari.org/wp-content/uploads/Elsborg_Mille.pdf