Ellen Neises

Biography

Ellen Neises is lecturer in the University of Pennsylvania School of Design's department of Landscape Architecture and a Senior Associate at Field Operations, where she led the master plans for Fresh Kills Park, a landscape process-driven redevelopment of a large urban landfill complex, and Lake Ontario Park, a 925-acre park that includes beaches, wilds, and portions of the Toronto portlands, which was awarded the 2009 National Honour Award by the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. She has a BS from Carnegie Mellon University (1988), a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University (1990), and an MLA from the University of Pennsylvania (2002), where she was the recipient of the Ian McHarg Prize for Excellence. Prior to joining Field Operations, she worked for Donna Walcavage Landscape Architecture + Urban Design on the design of a waterfront park in Sunset Park, Brooklyn; and taught graduate design studios in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to earning an MLA, she had nine years of experience managing a variety of economic development and public policy projects.