Full Professor, Department of Psychology

Colin Ellard is a psychologist researching neuroscience. ​​His interests include how the organization and appearance of natural and built spaces affects movement, wayfinding, emotion, and physiology. He directs the Urban Realities Lab at the University of Waterloo.

Colin EllardIn my scientific life, I study these kinds of relationships by presenting people with problems of space both in the real world and in simulated worlds generated using the tools of virtual reality. In my laboratory, I can place you inside anything from a beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright interior to a stark, industrial cityscape in order to measure your psychological reactions to place. Out on the streets, I collaborate with museums and galleries to lead psychogeographic walks where I measure your psychological responses to the built fabric of the city.

Contact Information:

Extension: 46852

Office: PAS 4036

Email: cellard@uwaterloo.ca

Colin's Psychology profile

Personal website


*Photographer: Mathieu Rivard

Affiliation: 
University of Waterloo