Scholarly interests include landscape architecture, landscape planning, landscape ecology, spatial modeling and analysis, and applications of information technology to planning and design. A recent project includes the development of a Land Use Change Early Warning System for the National Park Service. Dr. Ellis has also been involved in designing an environmentally sustainable educational facility for Texas A&M University next to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in Costa Rica.

In 2003, he was elected to a three-year term as the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Director of Region 3 consisting of the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Subsequently, Dr. Ellis was elected to a three-year term as President Elect, President, and Past President of CELA (2006-09). He is also a full member of the World Federation of Scientists where he has served on a permanent monitoring panel for Limits of Development since 1999.

Selected Publications

“Retail Land Use, Neighborhood Satisfaction, and the Urban Forest: An Investigation into the Moderation and Mediation Effects of Trees,”Landscape and Urban Planning, 2006

“Large-Scale Environmental Perception: Investigating the Relationship Between Perceived and Objectively Measured Physical Environments,” Environment & Behavior, 2006

“GIS and Human-Centered Design: Using Ethnographic Data Collection and Analysis Methods to Design a Utility Permitting Support System,” Urban and Regional Information System Association Journal, 2003