Hall grew up in the foothills of the North Cascades in Washington before venturing east for college. She graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in environmental studies and then moved to France where she spent two years teaching English at a public university. While living in Europe she started working as a journalist for a small online publication, which sparked an enthusiasm for writing and reporting, eventually leading her to Missoula to pursue environmental journalism at University of Montana. Ella enjoys peanut-butter cookies, trail running and curling up with a good book