Ellen is a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Exeter, UK. Ellen completed her PhD in Economics at the University of Bristol in 2022, titled "The Economics of School Choice and Sorting", and then became a Max Weber (postdoctoral) Fellow at the European University Institute, Italy. Previously, Ellen was a senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, London, and a research assistant at the Centre for Market and Public Organisation, Bristol.

Ellen is an experienced applied microeconomist working on topics in labour economics, currently specialising in the economics of education. Ellen's current research agenda focuses on school and residential choices, contributing to modelling and understanding of the dynamic interactions between school choice policy and school and neighbourhood segregation.

Ellen has published in respected journals such as The Economic Journal, the Journal of Labor Economics and the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society.
Ellen became an IZA Research Fellow in 2024.