Elizabeth “Lizzie” Stifel '19MA is an undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame, and she's already making a meaningful impact on an international study regarding pandemic-related border closures.

The study, led by a political science PhD candidate and published at nature.com, is titled: "Did border closures slow SARS-CoV-2?" Lizzie was a "valued contributor" to the study according to an article by Beth Staples: "Pandemic pivot: Political science Ph.D. candidate leads team of scholars and students studying whether border closures affected COVID-19’s spread." 

The abstract states that "The objective of this study was to examine whether [...] border closures reduced the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)." Lizzie was among the volunteers contributing to an "online data collection effort — the COVID Border Accountability Project (COBAP)" and is listed as a co-author of the study. 

At Notre Dame, Lizzie studies political science, global affairs, and data science. She also speaks French, which she was inspired to pursue thanks to her time with Madame Kim Sanborn while a student at Moravian Academy. Because of French language skills and her interest in African politics, Lizzie's work focused on French-speaking countries in Africa. 

'I now have a sense of working with data, and will be applying this experience on my own independent research,' said Stifel, who is currently interning with the U.S. Embassy in Dakar and hopes to pursue a career in international environmental policy or global health.

When we think of our mission as a school, we think of the work Lizzie is doing and the global policy maker she is on her way to becoming. And, of course, Lizzie's story is another example of the transformative impact that our faculty have on our students as they answer the questions: Who am I and who will I become? 

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