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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Environment
Biggest Carbon Loser: Staying grounded, cutting carbon, when you have the travel bug
Three contestants. Two months. One planet. A lot of carbon. KUOW’s Biggest Carbon Loser series aims to see how deeply three Seattle-area residents can cut their carbon footprints -- from travel, food, energy, and more -- while navigating their daily lives. What will it take our contestants, and our region, to kick the carbon habit and help fend off climate catastrophe? Many may try, but only one will take the coveted title: The Biggest Carbon Loser.
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Health
Coronavirus concerns rattle local Chinese community
The Year of the Rat is off to a rocky start.
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Environment
Hundreds of Amazon employees defy company gag order
An internal revolt at the tech giant shows employees using one of Amazon's lesser-known principles: “have backbone; disagree and commit.”
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7 wounded, 1 dead in downtown Seattle shooting outside McDonald's
At least six people were shot and one killed in downtown Seattle Wednesday evening. It was the third shooting in downtown Seattle in two days.
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Upper Skagit Tribe offers $5k reward after ancient site in North Cascades looted
The Upper Skagit Indian Tribe is offering up to a $5,000 reward to help catch whoever looted an archeological site in North Cascades National Park.
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Environment
State Supreme Court hobbles Inslee climate-pollution rule
Whose pollution is it when a driver burns gasoline made by a big oil company?
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Get the message out: How one interpreter navigated Seattle when bad weather struck
Andy Gault had a rough commute on Tuesday.
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Hey KUOW, why a contest for The Biggest Carbon Loser?
The earth’s climate, as you may have heard, is pretty messed up right now. Megacities flooding, a continent afire, etc. And it’s heading into much more dangerous territory.
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Environment
Copper versus salmon: Why an Alaska mine matters in the Northwest
Hidden in the photo below is the story of an epic clash.
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Environment
Zero carbon in 30 years: Inslee sets more aggressive goal for state
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is proposing to make the state carbon-neutral in 30 years, a much more aggressive pace of pollution reduction than his administration has pursued before.