Elisa grew up in Asheville, North Carolina and graduated from UNC - Chapel Hill with a BS in Environmental Science. She first worked with SCA doing an internship with the Keene Valley Nature Conservancy and then as a member of the Adirondack Conservation Corps. She received her master's in Urban Planning from the University of Groningen, Netherlands. She began work with the SCA Sustainability Corps in December 2008. Her passions include local agriculture, traveling, dancing, cooking, skiing, and bicycling.