John Ryan
Environment Reporter
About
John Ryan joined KUOW as its first full-time investigative reporter in 2009 and became its environment reporter in 2018. He focuses on climate change, energy, and the ecosystems of the Puget Sound region. He has also investigated toxic air pollution, landslides, failed cleanups, and money in politics for KUOW.
Over a quarter century as an environmental journalist, John has covered everything from Arctic drilling to Indonesian reef bombing. He has been a reporter at NPR stations in southeast and southwest Alaska (KTOO-Juneau and KUCB-Unalaska) and at the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.
John’s stories have won multiple national awards for KUOW, including the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi awards for Public Service in Radio Journalism and for Investigative Reporting, national Edward R. Murrow and PMJA/PRNDI awards for coverage of breaking news, and Society of Environmental Journalists awards for in-depth reporting.
John welcomes tips, documents, and feedback. Reach him at jryan@kuow.org or for secure, encrypted communication, he's at heyjohnryan@protonmail.com or 1-401-405-1206 on the Signal messaging app.
Location: Seattle
Languages: English, some Spanish, some Indonesian
Professional Affiliations: SAG-AFTRA union member and former shop steward; Society of Environmental Journalists member and mentor
Stories
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Sea level on steroids: Record tides flood Washington coastlines
Some of the highest tides ever recorded hit Seattle and much of the Washington coast this week.
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For the Northwest, climate change was hard to ignore in 2021
Climate chaos doesn’t wait around until nothing else is going on.
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Jumping slugs: the tiny, slimy acrobats of Northwest forests
Washington and Oregon are home to a group of rare species you’ve probably never heard of. Their name alone might horrify or delight you: the jumping slugs.
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Health officials pin Covid outbreaks on high school wrestling tourneys
High school wrestling tournaments have led to multiple Covid outbreaks in western Washington, according to state officials, including at least 115 cases in King and Snohomish counties alone.
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Battered ship finds a port. 105 of its cargo containers presumed sunk
The ship that spilled more than a hundred cargo containers off the Washington coast, then caught fire has made it safely into port. The same cannot be said for much of the Zim Kingston’s cargo.
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Shoreline nixes natural gas in climate change move, but not all is snuffed out
The Shoreline City Council unanimously approved a new energy code on Monday that prohibits most uses of fossil fuels in new buildings.
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New bus fuel is 'carbon neutral,' Pierce Transit claims. It's not
Tacoma-based Pierce Transit announced in November that it was switching its fleet of natural-gas buses to a different variety of the gas to help the global climate.
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Lummi Nation combats massive outbreak of invasive European crabs
Lummi Nation biologists were alarmed to find 2,600 European green crabs invading the shores of the Lummi Reservation near Bellingham last year, more than had ever been seen in Puget Sound. This year, they found 30 times that number.
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Northern Washington tribes fear ‘devastation’ of salmon by extreme floodwaters
Too much water can be dangerous, even for fish.
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Tacoma liquid gas plant gets go-ahead from state pollution board
A controversial liquified natural gas plant on the Tacoma waterfront has gotten the final go-ahead from the state’s Pollution Control Hearings Board.
