Elise Hartill has a B.Sc. in Marine Biology with a minor in Fisheries, and a M.Sc. in Marine Biology, both from the School of Marine Science at the University of Maine. She studied tropical coral ecosystems in Bonaire and the Dominican Republic with Dr. Robert Steneck during her undergraduate career. Her undergraduate thesis describes the reproductive biology of an Antarctic deep-sea coral, and her Master's thesis describes the ecology of cold-water corals in Alaskan fjords with Dr. Rhian Waller. She is a National Geographic Explorer, having received an “Early Career Grant” in 2019 to develop and expand place-based science programming for students in rural Alaska. The project is set to take place in 2021 with the collaboration of educators from Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve.