Graduate school is a time for research, professional development and personal growth. Exemplifying this is Erin Emott, a Ph.D. student at NC State University studying plant biology whose pottery has won two Visual Artist Awards from Arts NC State in the past two years.
Outside of her time in the art studio, Emott keeps busy balancing field work, data analysis and teaching. Her graduate research through Professor Bill Hoffman’s lab in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology focuses on the growth of longleaf pine trees in the “bolting” life stage and the factors that impact their survival during prescribed burns.
A second focus of her work is the plant diversity of longleaf pine understories, including those in the sandhills of North Carolina. These ecosystems include many species with specialized adaptations to survive and thrive in frequently burned landscapes. She examines the flammability of pyrophytic oaks and how their relative abundance in the landscape and their flammability are linked to changes in plant diversity.
Although her research and pottery are tied together in fire, Emott finds much of her artistic inspiration outside of her research, leaning into playful energy and a general love for the natural world.
Her award-winning Skelly ceramic mug design originated in 2021 and went through several iterations before reaching its final form to earn the 2024 Visual Artist Award from Arts NC State. The inspiration was entirely practical — Emott likes to hold mugs around the body, rather than the handle.
The Groovy mug design, which won the 2025 Visual Artist Award, came about more organically — with Emott just playing with curved lines that could be made with painter’s tape
One of her favorite aspects of making art is watching how her work resonates with people at craft fairs and markets.
“Usually, a piece is one-off, inspired by a specific feeling or a quick, passing thought,” Emott explains. “Then if it resonates with others, I run with it and try to improve it, like I did with the skelly design.”
Emott took her first pottery course in high school, and has returned to it periodically throughout her life. After things started to reopen following the COVID-19 pandemic, she took a class at a community studio in Tallahassee, Florida, and hasn’t stopped since. The small class structure, one-on-one interactions and constructive feedback from her instructors helped her grow and develop her artistic skills. Emott joined NC State’s Crafts Center as a member of the clay studio as soon as she set foot on campus in 2023, and continues to create new designs and pieces there.
“I think it’s so valuable having a robust art studio on campus, especially with all the different classes they offer,” Emott says. “I came to the Crafts Center specifically for pottery, but 100% plan to take a stained glass class before I graduate. The proximity of the studio to where I work and affordability of the classes really make all the difference for a graduate student with a busy schedule!”
Her passion for pottery extends beyond the art of creation and into the overlap of art and science. Pottery integrates art with physics during the throwing process, and chemistry during the glazing and firing of a piece. Simple alterations to the temperature and gas composition in the kiln while firing can drastically impact a piece’s appearance, making each one unique.
Emott recommends the Crafts Center to new students joining the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology as a way to learn new skills, reduce stress and build community at NC State.
“I think we all benefit from having a space where we can disconnect our brains at the end of the day and engage our bodies instead,” she says.