Ryan Meyer studies the relationships between social problems and scientific research. His work addresses questions such as: What kinds of social benefit can we reasonably expect from scientific research? What role do values play in our science system? How do managers approach the task of deciding what research to fund? How do particular types of research gain importance and influence in academic and policy circles?

Ryan's dissertation research (at CSPO) focused on climate science and climate adaptation research in the US and Australia. In 2009 he traveled to Australia on a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research on new federal level programs focused on climate change adaptation research. He has remained in Australia as a visiting fellow at the University of Melbourne, and is working with CSIRO, Australian National University, and the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR) to begin implementing some of his findings. In December 2010, Ryan received his PhD from Arizona State University, where he worked as a CSPO graduate research associate on the Science Policy Assessment and Research on Climate (SPARC) project.