Water Scientist
Author
Engaged Scholar
About
Ryan Emanuel is a Lumbee hydrologist and community-engaged scholar from North Carolina. A tenured faculty member at Duke University, Ryan leads a research group based at the Duke River Center that studies how humans and our non-human relatives affect (and are affected by) water and environmental processes. His work promotes environmental justice and Indigenous rights through research, teaching, and public engagement.
Ryan is a former professor and University Faculty Scholar at NC State University, and he was a 2020-2021 Fellow at the National Humanities Center. He has written or co-authored more than 60 academic articles. Ryan’s book, On the Swamp: Fighting for Indigenous Environmental Justice (UNC Press, 2024) is now available for purchase online and in bookstores.
Learn more at Ryan’s Scholars@Duke page, or download his academic CV.
Research
Water and life are intertwined in profound ways. We can’t live without water, it flows through living and non-living parts of the environment, and significant life experiences involve water and watery places. Ryan’s research group studies complex relationships across academic disciplines, including ecohydrology, watershed science, environmental justice, and Indigenous rights. Ryan’s group is based in the Nicholas School of the Environment and is one of four research groups inhabiting the Duke River Center. Learn more about Ryan’s work in each major area.
Teaching and Mentoring
Ryan’s current teaching rotation includes courses on hydrology, environmental justice, and Indigenous land and water issues. He has previously taught courses on environmental geology, wetland management, and ecohydrology. In 2020, NC State University recognized Ryan’s outstanding teaching and advising with the Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professorship Award.
Ryan mentors students and early career researchers who are part of his research group at Duke. He provides professional mentoring through programs offered by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and other professional organizations. He advises state and local policy-makers on issues involving Indigenous peoples and K-12 education. In 2019, the United Tribes of North Carolina recognized his contributions to education with the Distinguished Service to Indian Education Award.
Learn more about Ryan’s teaching on his Scholars@Duke page.
Public Engagement
Ryan collaborates with tribal governments, Indigenous organizations, and other groups to promote environmental justice and Indigenous rights. He also serves on advisory committees and boards that advance these goals by informing policy and public conversations around energy, food, water, and sustainability.
Ryan received the 2019 Steve Wing International Environmental Justice Award from the NC Environmental Justice Network for research and advocacy that ultimately helped defeat the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. He was also a member of the 2020-2022 class of the William C. Friday Fellowship for Human Relations, a program that prepares North Carolinians to address the state’s most pressing issues through dialogue and relationship.
The links below document Ryan’s public engagement through news stories, interviews, podcasts, documentaries, and public speaking engagements.
