Professor of Biology

Hugh Ellis, PhD, came to the Department of Biology in 1980 after teaching three years at Iowa State University. His research is in the energetics of birds, looking at such topics as energy budgets, migration and diving. He has been a visiting research scientist at the University of Hawaii, Sydney University (Australia), and the Archbold Biological Station (Florida). Ellis is affiliated with the Environmental and Ocean Sciences graduate program and is involved with the Center of Comparative Physiology in the Department of Biology.

Ellis' research is focused on the temperature regulation and energetics of birds of several groups: herons, seabirds, rails and jays. For the last several years, the primary focus of his work has been the physiological adaptations of Eared Grebes, a diving waterbird. His lab has studied its temperature regulation, its energy budget, and the relation of its body composition and metabolic rate to different parts of its annual cycle. Recent work in the lab includes a study of fatty acid signatures as a guide to Eared Grebe migratory routes. Current work in the lab includes a study of oxygen stores in diving grebes and the intermediary metabolism of several tissues in these birds.