Ryan Lima

Ryan is a Program Manager at the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy. His primary focus, since joining the staff in 2021, has been on conducting research and aggregating data to develop indicators of land and water in the Colorado River Basin and adjacent areas. Before joining the Babbitt Center, Ryan completed a PhD in Earth Systems at Northern Arizona University, where he worked in the Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics lab. His doctoral research focused on understanding the effects of Glen Canyon Dam on fine-sediment storage and transport in the Colorado River within Grand Canyon. He used a combination of field measurements, remote sensing, and deep learning to explore sandbar morphodynamics and identify opportunities for sustainable management of downstream resources. In addition to his doctoral studies, Ryan earned an MS in Environmental Science and Policy estimating the nonmarket value of watershed services provided by public lands in Arizona. Prior to his academic career, Ryan gained practical experience working on public lands conducting plant inventory and monitoring and working on wildland fire crews within the National Park System. Throughout his career, Ryan has demonstrated a strong connection to public lands and has developed a unique perspective on the management of land and water resources.