Staff Directory

Dr. Ellis is a restoration ecologist and GIS specialist with two decades of experience in systems assessment, strategic planning, community partnerships and project implementation. His experience in teaching and applied projects have focused on watershed scale restoration, innovative stormwater management, the acceleration of local food systems, and the deployment of geospatial tools to drive better sustainability decision making. His primary roles in the Office of Sustainability are to guide operational strategies and metrics that demonstrate the achievement of measurable sustainability targets. He leads the Offices’ Clean Energy and Climate Solutions, and Biodiversity and Landscape programs and is chair of the FMD Fleet Electrification Workgroup. Prior to returning to UGA he was the Environmental Leadership Director at the University of North Georgia and an Honors Faculty Scholar at Longwood University in VA where he developed courses on sustainability metrics and the psychology of sustainable behavior change. His PhD is from UGA’s Odum School of Ecology with training in fluvial geomorphology, agroecology, ecological restoration using soil organic matter and how innovations diffuse throughout society.