Ryan Peek

Ryan Peek

Position Title
Emeritus Senior Researcher

  • Center for Watershed Sciences
Bio

Ryan Peek joined the Center for Watershed Sciences full time in February 2011. He completed his PhD in Ecology in 2018, with a certificate in Conservation Management. His research spans population genetics, hydrology, ecology, and amphibian populations in California and Oregon. In particular, he has been studying the impacts of river regulation on foothill yellow-legged frogs using population genetics as a tool to assess riverscape change, and food-web interactions in floodplain systems in California.

Dr. Peek is interested in continuing to bridge the fields of conservation genomics, hydrology, and ecology to better understand river and floodplain ecosystems. He has worked extensively with sensitive amphibians, including a mountain / sierra yellow-legged frogs (Rana muscosa / sierra) restoration project with the National Park Service, as well as assessment of connectivity and genetic fragmentation of foothill yellow-legged frogs (Rana boylii) in managed rivers in California.   

Along with several other ecology graduate students, Ryan co-founded the Aggie Brickyard magazine to serve as a conduit for communicating science and research among students and faculty, and leverage the diversity of expertise that exists in our community.

His research experience includes extensive analyses of freshwater ecosystems throughout CA and OR, with special focus on hydropower regulation and environmental management of rivers and streams in the Sierra Nevada. He was the field lead and one of the main authors for the Spring Recession Project and has contributed to PISCESMountain Meadows, CEC Yuba, and Freshwater Conservation projects. He is also a Software and Data Carpentry Instructor, coordinator of the Davis R-Users Group, and Ryan serves as a lecturer and river guide for the CWS ecogeomorphology class.

Research Interests & Expertise
  • Amphibians
  • Aquatic Ecology
  • Floodplains
  • Freshwater Systems
  • River Regulation
  • Conservation Genetics
  • Foodwebs
Membership and Service
  • John Muir Institute of the Environment
  • Ecology Graduate Group