Elizabeth was awarded a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in the 2001 to conduct a study on terrestrial habitat use by nesting painted turtles in landscapes with different levels of habitat fragmentation. This required Elizabeth to capture, radio tag, and monitor 20 female turtles among three different ponds.

The landscape that surrounded the study ponds were very different, especially road density. After monitoring movements of radio-tagged turtles, Elizabeth demonstrated that the terrestrial movements of female turtles was dependent on the availability of suitable nesting habitat. If nesting habitat was not available near their home pond, female turtles would travel long distances and be especially vulnerable to being killed as they cross roads. Elizabeth’s study was published in Northeastern Naturalist.