Caitlin M. Ryan
WyGISC | School of Computing
Postdoctoral Research Associate
- PhD, Geography, University of Colorado Boulder (2019)
- MA, International Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington, DC (2022)
- BA, Geography and Russian Language (double major), Middlebury College, VT (1998)
I am a human geographer studying the socio-economic, political and institutional processes that drive cooperation and conflict over land, natural resources, and development. I am especially interested in connecting scientific and local knowledge in ways that enable communities to address complex problems. My work draws on the fields of socio-ecological systems, critical development geographies, regional and municipal planning, humanitarian and disaster response, and peace and conflict studies. I have expertise in research design and a range of qualitative methods that prioritize participant-led and collaborative approaches to knowledge production.
I am a researcher with Wyoming Anticipating the Climate-Water Transition (WyACT), a transdisciplinary project funded by NSF EPSCoR that is centered on the headwaters of the Snake, Green and Wind Rivers. My main focus is on Scenario Planning, a set of futures-oriented participatory research methods that I use to help Wyoming headwater communities plan for, and adapt to, climate-driven changes to the water resources that affect their linked environmental and social systems. I am also exploring how uncertainty about the climate future affects the decisions and actions of land managers, county and municipal leaders, and the public. I am particularly excited about the possibilities for scenario planning to bridge traditional, local and academic knowledge systems, to engage in interdisciplinary and co-produced science, and to think about the possibilities for connecting integrative modeling with local planning around climate-related adaptation strategies. Also with WyACT, I am exploring an institutional analysis of decision-making around water for the Wind River basin.
My dissertation explored histories of urban transformation, development, and contemporary identity politics in Kyrgyzstan. Prior to earning my PhD, I spent six years conducting policy-focused research in the South Caucasus related to anti-corruption initiatives, forced displacement, and humanitarian aid. I am also a volunteer Editor with the Boulder Housing Network, which seeks to bring more pro-housing affordability voices to the city of Boulder’s planning meetings. Before coming to UW, I taught courses in international development, geographies of global change, global public health, and introductory human geography with the University of Colorado Boulder’s Department of Geography.
- Socio-ecological systems
- Climate change adaptation
- Regional and municipal planning
- Development
- Space and place
- Scenario planning/futures thinking
- Peer-Reviewed Articles:
- Ryan, Caitlin M. and Sarah Tynen. 2020. “Fieldwork Under Surveillance: Rethinking Relations of Trust, Vulnerability, and State Power.” The Geographical Review, 110(1-2): 38-51. doi: 10.1111/gere.12360.
- Cowley, Austin, Caitlin M. Ryan and Elizabeth Dunn. 2015. “The Law, the Mafia, and the Production of Sovereignties in the Kyrgyz Penal System.” Ab Imperio 2015(2): 183-208.
- In Preparation:
- Witinok-Huber, Rebecca, C.N. Knapp, J. Lund, W. Eaton, B.E. Ewers, B. Geerts, C.I. Gunshenan, M.C. Inouye, M.L. Keller, N.M. Lumadue, A.R. de Figueiredo, C.M. Ryan, B.N. Shuman, T. Spoonhunter, D.G. Williams. (Submitted July 2024) “Does knowledge co-production influence adaptive capacity? A framework for evaluation.” Environmental Science and Policy.
- Ryan, Caitlin M., A. de Figueiredo, M. Keller and J. Hamerlinck (Forthcoming-Abstract accepted). “Communicating Uncertainty about Climate Change through Scenario Planning: An Engaged Approach to Knowledge Co-Production and Transdisciplinary Scholarship,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers.
- Policy Work and Public Scholarship:
- Ryan, Caitlin M. 2024. "The Upper Snake River’s Climate Future: Scenario Planning for Uncertainty." Research Brief. University of Wyoming, Laramie: Wyoming Anticipating the Climate-Water Transition. August.
- Knight, Ethan., S. Arens, K. Clifford, B. Duncan, E. Knight, C.M. Ryan and W. Quiles-Guzman. 2023. “Lander Climate Hazard Planning for Flooding: Workshop Final Report.” Western Water Assessment: Boulder, CO.
- Ryan, Caitlin M. 2022. Spruce St. Project: 101 Condos and $7.5 million for affordable housing, Boulder Housing Network Newsletter, October 28.
- Ryan, Caitlin M. 2022. Stagnant Housing; Urgent Need for Simpler Regulations, Boulder Housing Network Newsletter, May 17.
- Ryan, Caitlin M. 2021. Why did Bedrooms Fail and What Can We Learn From It?, Boulder Housing Network Newsletter, December 10.
- “Afghan Information Ecosystems: A Design Research Approach,” with Sayara Research for Internews. 2016. (Co-author, unattributed).
- “Security issues faced by women human rights defenders in the South Caucasus,” Kvinna til Kvinna (“Queen to Queen,” a Swedish human rights NGO). 2012.
- Urushadze, Erekle and Caitlin Ryan (Ed). 2011. “National Integrity System-Georgia.” Tbilisi, Georgia: Transparency International-Georgia. October.
- Ryan, Caitlin. 2011. “Accountability in Aid Delivery: Renovation of Collective Centers for Georgia’s Internally Displaced Persons.” Tbilisi, Georgia: Transparency International-Georgia. September.
- Ryan, Caitlin. 2011. “Georgian Civil Society Brief.” Tbilisi, Georgia: Asian Development Bank. November.
