Elyse Ostroske is originally from Temecula, California. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics and a minor in Russian Language and Culture. She completed her Russian Flagship Capstone Year at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty, Kazakhstan through the 2022 Boren Scholarship. After returning to the United States, Elyse worked as a laboratory ORISE Fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. At CERES, she hopes to further combine her dual passions for science and area studies. Elyse aspires to eventually work in global public health.