Ryan (he/they) is a research assistant with Equitable Global Health and System Research at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research and Global Food System and Policy Research in the School of Global Health at York University. They are completing their PhD in Sociology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where their dissertation explores national predictors and urban realities of queer food insecurity through mixed methods analysis. Ryan uses food as a lens to explore social inequalities and works across a range of disciplines to centre stories of community empowerment and methods of food sovereignty, a precursor to food security and healthier communities.

Their research on health equity and food justice is informed by their institutional affiliations and collaborative relationships: They are a member of a queer food justice hub, Saige Community Food Share, a grassroots 2S/LGBTQIA+ queer food sovereignty initiative that provides social support and no-barrier food options to local community members. They are a member of the Two-Spirit Dry Lab, a collaborative of Indigenous and settler researchers working at the intersections of Indigeneity, gender expression, sexualities, and geography for the health and wellbeing of Two-Spirit peoples and better Indigenous-settler relations. They are finally a member of the Public Health and Urban Nutrition (PHUN) research group at UBC, where researchers explore how food environments shape the health of individuals and communities. Their quantitative analysis of national predictors of queer food insecurity within their dissertation work has been awarded a 2024 Emerging Scholar Grant by the Canadian Research Data Centre Network. They are also a Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant award winner and UBC Public Scholar. Originally from outside Philadelphia (Lenni Lenape territory), they currently live on xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) lands (Vancouver, BC) and identify as a white, nonbinary, queer settler of German, English, and Irish descent.