En route from Florida to San Francisco in her grandmother's1965 Plymouth Belvedere, Ellen found herself tinkering with the carburetor at the peak of the Continental Divide. Knowing she'd make a terrible mechanic, Ellen earned a B.A. from San Francisco State University and has been editing in the Bay Area for the last 25 years.

Starting out news editing at KRON in San Francisco, she moved on to Industrial Light and Magic, where she honed her skills as a visual effects editor. After a few years at Wild Brain, Ellen relocated to Toronto to work on a feature film. Returning to the Bay Area in 2005, she has worked on a variety of projects, most recently with emotion studios in Sausalito, editing artist profiles for Adobe, while also pursuing a blacksmithing and welding hobby. In 2020 after a significant life change, Ellen embarked on an adventure in the eastern Oregon desert, designing and building a custom home at the base of the Cascade Mountains with a view of Klamath Lake. In September of 2024, Ellen embraced a challenging career change, accepting the position of Digital Media Design Department Lead at Klamath Community College.

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In her spare time, she explores the dusty dirt paths of the south-eastern Oregon outback on her BMW Dakar dual sport in search of the perfect dark sky and new stories to tell.