Ryan Easton is originally from Beaverton, Oregon, USA. He completed his B.Sc. and M.Sc. at Oregon State University and has worked as a fisheries ecologist for multiple State and Federal organizations in Oregon, Kansas and Texas. Ryan moved to Dunedin, New Zealand in September 2018 and worked as a research assistant in the Zoology department at the University of Otago focusing on freshwater fish ecology before starting his PhD.
His PhD research is focused on fish passage barriers and river connectivity in Murihiku (Southland Region) on New Zealand’s South Island. He is combining traditional survey techniques like electro-fishing, with eDNA and fish virome research to investigate freshwater fish population connectivity, distribution, and abundance before and after fish passage barrier remediation efforts.
Ryan is co-supervised by Prof. Neil Gemmell, Prof. Gerry Closs (Zoology), Dr. Eddy Dowle (Plant and Food Research), and Prof. Antoni Moore (School of Surveying).