Ellen Neises

Ellen Neises teaches landscape design at the graduate school of design at the University of Pennsylvania and works on large-scale and large-scope design and policy problems involving land, water and development. Ellen’s research interests include climate adaptation for coastal cities, sustainability of high-yield production agriculture, regional planning strategies for industry and agriculture, and community-based planning and design. Ellen co-led the PennDesign / OLIN team’s work on Hunts Point Lifelines, one of the 6 winning entries in the 2014 Rebuild by Design competition. The PennDesign / OLIN team was recognized by the Rockefeller Foundation as one of 4 “global resiliency innovators” for its comprehensive, culture-shifting, resilience proposal for the South Bronx. Prior to coming to teach at Penn in 2011, Ellen was an associate partner at James Corner Field Operations, where she developed designs for a wide range of project types involving development strategy, complex water dynamics, ecological reclamation, and bold physical design, including Fresh Kills Park in Staten Island, Lake Ontario Park in Toronto, stormwater infrastructure on the Harlem River, mixed use waterfront developments and other project types.