Olivia Elliott ’26 is a nutritional sciences major from Exeter, New Hampshire who received a Sustainability Fellowship from the UNH Sustainability Institute. She is working for New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services to help address food safety at the state’s farmer’s markets.
One of Olivia’s other passions is dance. She is a member of the UNH Dance Company and has started taking aerial dance lessons the university.
Olivia Elliott: I was looking into opportunities for the summer and came across the many Sustainability Fellowships provided by UNH. All of the organizations involved were working towards sustainability in their operations, which appealed to me. A handful of them had to do with sustainable food systems, which is a topic I'm incredibly interested in.
Olivia: I'm working for the Department of Health and Human Services Food Protection Section, doing research on food safety at New Hampshire farmer's markets. Right now, New Hampshire farmer's markets have little to no oversight, so I'm going to markets across the state and conducting food safety assessments with each vendor. The goal is to identify and work to close any potential food safety gaps, so that foodborne illness can be prevented at these events.
Olivia: I hope to help educate vendors at farmers markets on food safety. Ultimately, I'm hoping to help make these markets as safe as possible for the public, especially since local food systems are important to me.
Olivia: This fellowship has allowed me to gain important skills in communication, networking, research and more. I'm working collaboratively alongside my mentors, as well as taking ownership and getting deliverables done independently.
Olivia: In all aspects of the university, sustainability is prioritized, from the dining halls, to residential halls, to clubs on campus. As a COLSA student, environmental sustainability and its impacts is integrated into the curriculum of almost all my classes.
Olivia: There are so many ways to incorporate your interests into your education or extracurriculars. There's always things to do on campus that can expand your interests or allow you to meet new people!
