Dr. Alicia Ellis is a Professor of Practice and Director of the Master of Arts in Global Security program at Arizona State University. She also leads the university’s Agriculture and National Security effort, an interdisciplinary project examining food and agricultural systems as strategic infrastructure in an era of geopolitical competition. Her work bridges national security, economic statecraft, and supply chain resilience, with particular focus on how agricultural systems are increasingly targeted through gray-zone pressure, economic coercion, cyber vulnerabilities, and other non-kinetic forms of conflict.
Dr. Ellis’s research and applied engagements explore the strategic implications of food production, land use, water systems, and global commodity markets. She works at the intersection of policy, industry, and academia to help public- and private-sector leaders anticipate cascading risks and strengthen institutional resilience. She designs and leads scenario-based exercises and wargames that examine systemic shocks to agricultural supply chains, infrastructure, and allied cooperation frameworks.
Prior to joining ASU, Dr. Ellis served as a U.S. Air Force officer, deploying twice as an Air Battle Manager in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, including service as a Joint Air Operations Center Liaison Officer. She was later appointed as a Presidential Management Fellow, serving at the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Financial Research and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations.
She teaches courses on war and conflict, economic statecraft, and agriculture security. Under her leadership, the Master of Arts in Global Security program emphasizes applied analysis, interdisciplinary integration, and practitioner engagement, preparing students for roles across government, the private sector, and the national security community.
In addition to her academic work, Dr. Ellis and her husband operate a regenerative farm in Arizona’s east valley, grounding her research in firsthand experience with agricultural production and land stewardship.