Dr. Ryan Takeshita is the Deputy Director of Conservation Medicine, in direct support of the cons med team and Chief Scientist, Dr. Lori Schwacke. Ryan has been a research scientist with the NMMF since 2017. He served as the Research Coordinator for the Consortium for Advanced Research on Marine Mammal Health Assessments (CARMMHA) and has helped lead the NMMF’s scientific contributions to a variety of natural resource damage assessments involving injuries to and restoration for marine mammals. From sample processing during field health assessments to model building and formal analysis; from pursuing funding opportunities to drafting final manuscripts and reports for the government/public; from helping manage multi-disciplinary, multi-institution collaborative teams to engaging in education and outreach opportunities—Ryan enjoys the many aspects that make up the NMMF mission. Prior to joining the NMMF, Ryan worked with an environmental consulting firm assessing the toxic impacts of chemical releases into the environment and pathological threats to human health. He received a Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a B.A. in Biology from Pomona College.
Ryan Takeshita, Ph.D., is interested in the intersection of cellular and molecular biology, conservation science, toxicology/pathology, and policy.
He has over seven years experience with designing and managing research programs and analyzing large datasets to inform natural resource damage assessments (NRDA), as well as developing marine mammal restoration strategies and techniques. During his career, he has used human cell lines, model organisms, and field studies of wildlife to investigate the toxic impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons, persistent organic pollutants, and metals, as well as the pathological effects of viruses, bacteria, and parasites.
