BSc, Microbiology, University of Guelph (2001); Ph.D., Microbiology, University of Guelph (2007); currently the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is also part of a NASA-funded study on microbiology. His research focuses on the origins of life on Earth and the interaction between living organisms and their environment. Ryan is also active in hockey and youth and community sports.