Ryan joined WEST in 2001, and has conducted research on a variety of wildlife species and topics, focusing on fisheries, aquatic mammals, owls, raptors, and terrestrial vertebrates and their habitats. Ryan has extensive experience in the design and analysis of population abundance and distribution studies, including long-term monitoring and before-and-after-control-impact designs. Much of Ryan's experience in the design and analysis of animal resource selection and distribution studies has focused on the effects of human disturbance (e.g., timber harvest, roads, oil and gas development). In 2007 - 2008, Ryan's main area of research involved modeling sea ice habitat selection by arctic polar bears and investigating the potential effects of global climate change on polar bear habitat and distribution.
This research resulted in an Award for Excellence of Service from Dirk Kempthorn, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior (2008). Ryan also manages the annual golden eagle survey in the western U.S. for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In the last few years, Ryan has been involved in modeling resource selection and migration routes of elk, mule deer and antelope in the west. Ryan's interests include development and testing of new techniques for analyzing animal movement and resource selection.
Ryan's personal interests include golf (disc and ball varieties), scuba, cross-country skiing, and hiking with his family.
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