Dr. Ryan McManamay is the Lead of the Integrated Water-Energy-Ecosystems Team with the Aquatic Ecology Group at Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL). He also is a member of the Urban Dynamics Institute at ORNL and a joint-faculty member of the Bredesen Center at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Among his main research thrusts is ensuring sustainable energy development by minimizing impacts to aquatic resources while supporting social demands and local economies. Ryan has been active within the energy-water nexus research space by balancing urban growth with increasing energy production through interrelated increases in water demand and effects on water quality. In addition, he has developed frameworks to assist in building water policies at regional scales, and identified approaches to improve the effectiveness of environmental mitigation within the constraints of energy regulations. He worked with an ORNL team in developing an assessment of small hydropower potential in the US while identifying associated environmental concerns. Recent projects have included finding optimal solutions to mutually benefit hydropower energy production and environmental conditions. He also worked with a group of researchers in evaluating the impacts of unconventional gas extraction on water resources in the Marcellus shale region. The scope of his research has encompassed multiple aspects of renewable energy, hydrology, community and ecosystem ecology, restoration ecology, and conservation planning. Ryan received his Ph.D. in Fish and Wildlife Conservation in 2011 and his M.S. in Stream Ecology in 2007, both at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (USA).
