Dr. Ryan Meyer Named Instructor for Environmental Policy Clinic

We are pleased to announce the Instructor for the 2025-2026 Environmental Policy Clinic– Dr. Ryan Meyer! 

Meyer is the Executive Director of the Center for Community and Citizen Science at the UC Davis School of Education. Their mission is to help scientists, communities and other members of the public collaborate on science to address environmental problems as a part of civic life. 

His career has focused on the dynamics between science society, and on the role of science in environmental decision making. He has studied and written about science funding, the role of public values in our science system, boundary organizations and co-production of science for decision making, and public participation in research. Many projects at the Center for Community and Citizen Science engage partners and/or topics of direct relevance to EPM and the Policy Clinic. 

Meyer was previously Program Director at the California Ocean Science Trust, a non-profit boundary organization that helps scientists and decision makers collaborate more effectively. He completed his PhD at Arizona State University, where he conducted research on climate science funding in the US and Australia. He is a Fulbright Scholar, an affiliate of the Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes at Arizona State University, and a 2023 UC Davis Public Scholarship Faculty Fellow.

The Environmental Policy Clinic is a unique and dynamic capstone class, designed to give students hands-on experience working on an environmental policy or management project in partnership with an external client. Over the span of 20 weeks, teams of 4-5 masters students dive deep into pressing environmental policy challenges, delivering key analyses and innovative solutions to clients. Students create high-level deliverables such as reports, policy briefs, and maps. Projects are selected in the fall, officially beginning in January and culminating in a Symposium in June. 

The Clinic requires a boundary-spanning and policy engaged instructor to guide student groups as they work on a wide-range of projects. Students groups further their skills in research, project management, data analysis, survey evaluation, community engagement and more. EPM Faculty Chair Tyler Scott commented 

EPM is focused on training leaders who bridge environmental science and policy. Ryan's academic expertise and practical leadership experience doing this very thing makes him a perfect fit for the policy clinic. Ryan also emblematizes EPM's collaborative ethos, and we expect that the cool things he builds with students and external partners will create lasting value on and off campus.

Meyer previously partnered with the Clinic as a client in 2025, working in collaboration with Dr. Mark Schwartz (UC Davis) and Dr. Sarah Klain (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife). Their project examined locally relevant human well-being indicators linked to marine reserves along the Oregon Coast. As clients, Meyer, Schwartz and Klain guided the students through a literature review and community focus sessions to identify 10-15 key indicators that can be used for long-term monitoring efforts. The final report and findings can be viewed here. 

Of this partnership, Meyer said

I feel very lucky to get this opportunity to deepen my work with EPM’s students, staff, faculty, and external partners. The Policy Clinic is a wonderfully hands-on, varied, and multi-directional learning opportunity for all of us, and I’m excited to be a part of it.

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The Graduate Program of Environmental Policy and Management is accepting Policy Clinic project proposals through September 15, 2025.