Neil Ernst
Associate professor; combined program advisor for Geography/CSC; director, Matrix Institute for Applied Data
Computer Science
- Contact:
- Office: ECS 560 nernst@uvic.ca
- Area(s) of expertise:
- Software engineering, software architecture, requirements engineering, technical debt, empirical methods
About Neil
Neil is an associate professor of computer science at the University of Victoria, where he directs the UVic Matrix Institute for Data Science. He holds a PhD in computer science from the University of Toronto.
Neil's research focuses on software architecture and requirements, with a particular interest in technical debt — how short-term design decisions accumulate long-term costs in software systems. More recently, he has been exploring how LLM-influenced development practices affect these dynamics. He applies empirical methods to understand how software engineers actually work, bridging the gap between theory and practice.
Neil also works in trans-disciplinary settings, developing community-centric machine learning pipelines for natural resource management and studying how researchers build and use scientific software. His work is guided by a commitment to broadening computing sciences toward more inclusive definitions, and he aligns his research with sustainability goals including education, infrastructure and climate action.