Erle Christopher Ellis (born 11 March 1963 in Washington, DC) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

environmental scientist. Ellis's work investigates the causes and consequences of long-term ecological changes caused by humans at local to global scales, including those related to the

Anthropocene The Anthropocene ( ) is a proposed geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change. , neither the International Commissi ...

. As of 2015 he is a professor of Geography and Environmental Systems at the

University of Maryland, Baltimore County The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

where he directs the Laboratory for Anthroecology.

Education and Career

Ellis received an A.B. in Biology in 1986 and a Ph.D. in Plant Biology from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1990 with Roger Spanswick. After receiving his Ph.D., Ellis taught English at

Nanjing Agricultural University Nanjing Agricultural University (NAU, ) is a public research university located in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China. It is funded by the Ministry of Education of China as part of the nation's Double First Class University Plan and former Project 21 ...

in 1990/1991, and returned to China to study nitrogen cycling in China's village landscapes from 1993-1996. From 1996 to 2000, he worked with Stephen Gliessman at the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...

. In 2000 he was hired as an assistant professor in the department of Geography and Environmental Systems of the

; he was promoted to professor in 2015. He is a fellow of the Global Land Programme (Scientific Steering Committee 2012-2017) of

Future Earth Future Earth is an international research program which aims to build knowledge about the environmental and human aspects of Global change, and to find solutions for sustainable development. It aims to increase the impact of scientific research on ...

and th
Anthropocene Working Group
of the

International Commission on Stratigraphy The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), sometimes referred to unofficially as the "International Stratigraphic Commission", is a daughter or major subcommittee grade scientific daughter organization that concerns itself with stratigra ...

, a Senior Fellow at the

Breakthrough Institute The Breakthrough Institute is an environmental research center located in Oakland, California. Founded in 2007 by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, The institute is aligned with ecomodernist philosophy. The institute advocates for an embr ...

(and coauthor of the Ecomodernist Manifesto), and an advisor to th
Nature Needs Half movement
He has taught ecology as a visiting professor at the

Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban ...

(2013-2015) and was a visiting professor at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology (2006/2007).

Work

Ellis' research has explored long-term ecological changes in China's villages, and in 2008, he produced the first global map of

anthropogenic biomes Anthropogenic biomes, also known as anthromes, human biomes or intensive land-use biome, describe the terrestrial biosphere (biomes) in its contemporary, human-altered form using global ecosystem units defined by global patterns of sustained direct ...

(and coined the term "

anthrome Anthropogenic biomes, also known as anthromes, human biomes or intensive land-use biome, describe the terrestrial biosphere (biomes) in its contemporary, human-altered form using global ecosystem units defined by global patterns of sustained direct ...

") together with

Navin Ramankutty Navin Ramankutty (1970) is an agricultural geographer. As of 2015 he is a professor of Global Food Security and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia Ramankutty studies changes in land use and agricultural practices, and the effect ...

. In 2019, he helped to lead a massive collaboration of archaeologists to map land use changes around the world over the past 10,000 years. Ellis has published more than 100 scientific articles relating to global and local ecological changes caused by humans, and is
Global Highly Cited ResearcherCross-Field, 2018, 2019, 2020
. He has also written a number of articles and opinions communicating his work and other matters relating to humans as agents of ecological change, at ''Science'', ''Nature'', ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''Breakthrough Journal'', and other venues. His first book, ''Anthropocene: A Very Short Introduction'', was published in 2018.

Awards

2021-2024 Presidential Research Professor, UMBC.2019 Innovation in Sustainability Science Award, Ecological Society of America.

References

External links

Anthropocene: A Very Short IntroductionDiscover: Human Influence on Ecology MappedDepartment WebsiteProfile at the Laboratory for AnthroecologyAnthropocene Working Group
of the International Commission on Stratigraphy {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Erle C. 20th-century American scientists 21st-century American scientists American environmentalists American ecologists Environmental studies scholars Environmentalism in China Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty Human impact on the environment Landscape architecture