Ryan McManamay, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Environmental Science
Education
- Ph.D. Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, 2011
- M.S. Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, 2007
- B.S. Biological Sciences, Clemson University, 2004
Appointments
- 2017-2019: Energy-Water-Nexus Theme Lead, Urban Dynamics Institute, Oak Ridge Natl Lab, TN
- 2016-2019: Team Lead, Integrated Water-Energy-Ecosystems, Oak Ridge Natl Lab, TN
- 2016-2019: Joint Faculty, Bredesen Center, University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN
- 2013-2019: Research Scientist, Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge, TN
- 2011- 2013: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Oak Ridge National Lab, Oak Ridge, TN
Biography
Dr. Ryan McManamay is a spatial ecologist that studies human-environmental systems in order to balance ecosystem and societal needs. Ryan studies large-scale impacts of humans on natural landscapes, particularly energy development, on aquatic ecosystems. His formal training is in stream ecology and fisheries ecology, with emphasis on environmental flows and river restoration. His research evaluates natural and human-induced patterns in hydrology, infrastructure, and impacts to aquatic species, spans a number of scales, and includes both field and modeling analysis at ecosystem, community, and population levels. He also studies novel approaches to conduct biological monitoring and cataloging biodiversity. One of his specific interests is how to design sustainable future cities with respect to changes to land cover, shifts in regional to global water budgets, and changes in biodiversity. He is a member of the American Geophysical Union, the American Fisheries Society, and an alumni of the Emerging Leaders in Environmental and Energy Policy (ELEEP) group. Ryan serves as an Associate Editor of Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.
Recent News
- "At Yellowstone, Baylor prof shifts from vacation to vocation after national park flooding": https://www.baylor.edu/alumnimagazine/2103/index.php?id=987585
- McManamay et al. 2018 (PLoS ONE): “ORNL develops new capability to evaluate human-driven change in Eastern U.S. streams”: https://www.ornl.gov/news/ornl-develops-new-capability-evaluate-human-driven-change-eastern-us-streams
- “Ryan McManamay: An Aquatic Outlook on Future Energy”: https://www.ornl.gov/blog/eesd-review/ryan-mcmanamay-aquatic-outlook-future-energy
- High-resolution modeling assesses impact of cities on river ecosystems: https://www.ornl.gov/news/high-resolution-modeling-assesses-impact-cities-river-ecosystems
- “Reviving fish population at White Oak Creek faces barriers” - Knoxville news sentinel - http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/columnists/frank-munger/reviving-fish-population-at-white-oak-creek-faces-barriers--2fe61b83-e087-792b-e053-0100007f4aad-374956671.html
Recent Publications
2023
- McManamay, R.A., K. Larson, J. Tagestad, H.I. Jager, C.R. DeRolph, M.S. Bevelhimer. 2023. Mutually beneficial outcomes for hydropower expansion and environmental protection at a basin scale. Science of the Total Environment 165298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165298
- Morrison, R.R., K. Simonson, R.A. McManamay, D. Carver. 2023. Degradation of floodplain integrity within the contiguous United States. Nature Communications Earth & Environment https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00877-4
- Garrett, K.P., K.S. Rose, R.A. McManamay. 2023. Ready or not, here it comes: Assessing the gaps in community plans for renewable energy transitions within the United States. Energy Research and Social Science 102: 103164.
- Lueders, M.B., R.A. McManamay. 2023. Species depletion profiles as an alternative to streamflow alteration thresholds in a hydroecological risk assessment. Ecological Indicators 147: 109989
2022
- Garrett, K., R.A. McManamay, A. Witt. 2022. Harnessing the power of environmental flows: sustaining river ecosystem integrity while increasing energy potential at hydropower dams. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 173: 113049
- Khan, Z., E. Abraham, S. Aggarwal, M. A. Khan, R. Arguello, et al. (R. A. McManamay 44th Author). 2022. Emerging themes and future directions of multi-sector nexus research and implementation. Frontiers in Environmental Science 10: 918085. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2022.918085
- McManamay, R.A., R. George, R.R. Morrison, B. L. Ruddell. 2022. Mapping hydrologic alteration and ecological consequences in stream reaches of the conterminous United States. Scientific Data 9:450 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01566-1
- Pilla, R.M., N. A. Griffiths, L. Gu, S-C. Kao, R. McManamay, D.M. Ricciuto, X. Shi. 2022. Anthropogenically driven climate and landscape change effects on inland water carbon dynamics: What have we learned and where are we going? Global Change Biology DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16324
- McManamay, R.A., C. Brinkley, C.R. Vernon, S. Raj, J.S. Rice. 2022. Urban land teleconnections in the United States: A graphical network approach. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 95 (2022) 101822 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2022.101822
- Sturtevant, J., R.A. McManamay, C.R. DeRolph. 2022. U.S. national water and energy land dataset for integrated multisector dynamics research. Scientific Data. 9:183 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01290-w
- Fork, M.L., R.A. McManamay, J.B. Heffernan. 2022. Propagation of inflowing urban stormwater pulses through reservoir embayments. Urban Ecosystems https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-022-01218-7
- McManamay, R.A. 2022. Hydrology and classification of rivers for management. In (Poff, L. ed), Encyclopedia of Inland Waters, Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, Elsevier, ISBN 9780124095489, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819166-8.00080-3.
- Woodyard, M., B.A. Polidoro, C.W. Matson, R.A. McManamay, S. Saul, K.E. Carpenter, T.K. Collier, R. Di Giulio, R. Grubbs, C. Linardich, J.A. Moore, I.C. Romero, D. Schlenk, K. Strongin. 2022. A comprehensive petrochemical vulnerability index for marine fishes in the Gulf of Mexico. Science of the Total Environment 820: 152892.
- Surendran Nair, S., C. DeRolph, M.J. Peterson, R.A. McManamay, T. Mathews. Integrated watershed process model for evaluating mercury sources, transport, and future remediation scenarios in an industrially contaminated site. Journal of Hazardous Materials 423: 127049.
2021
- Turner, S.W.D., J.S. Rice, K.D. Nelson, C.R. Vernon, R.A. McManamay, K. Dickson, L. Marston. 2021. Comparison of potential drinking water source contamination across one hundred U.S. cities. Nature Communications 12:7254.
- Jager, H.I, R. A. Efroymson, R.A. McManamay. 2021. Renewable energy and biological conservation in a changing world. Biological Conservation 263: Nov 2021-109354
- Garrett, K., R. A. McManamay, J. Wang. 2021. Global hydropower expansion without building new dams. Environmental Research Letters https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac2f18
- Troia, M.J., R.A. McManamay, S-C. Kao, P. O'Connor. 2021. A heuristic tool to assess regional impacts of renewable energy infrastructure on conservation areas. Biological Conservation 263: 109334
- McManamay, R.A., C.R. Vernon, H.I. Jager. 2021. Global biodiversity implications of alternative electrification strategies under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. Biological Conservation 260: 109234
- George, R.N., M.B. Lueders, B.L. Ruddell, R.A. McManamay. 2021. Earth’s Imperiled Rivers. Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-821139-7.00066-0.
- Major, J., D. Perry, C. Aslan, R.A. McManamay. 2021. Identifying gaps in protected areas to expand integrated riverine ecosystem conservation. Conservation Science and Practice DOI: 10.1111/csp2.470
- Bhaduri, B., R.A. McManamay, O. Omitaomu, J. Sanyal, A. Rose. 2021. Urban energy systems: Research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, pgs 281-308, In Shi, W., M.F. Goodchild, M. Batty, M-P. Kwan, A Zhang (Ed.) Urban Informatics, The Urban Book Series, Springer DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-8983-6
- McManamay, R. A., KC, B., Allen‐Dumas, M. R., Kao, SC., Brelsford, C. M., Ruddell, B. L., et al. 2021. Reanalysis of water withdrawal for irrigation, electric power, and public supply sectors in the conterminous United States, 1950 to 2016. Water Resources Research 57: e2020WR027751. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR027751
- Absar, S.M., R.A. McManamay, B. Preston, A. Taylor. 2021. Bridging global socioeconomic scenarios with policy adaptations to examine energy-water trade-offs. Energy Policy 149: 111911.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111911
2020
- George, R., R.A. McManamay, D. Perry, J. Sabo, B.L. Ruddell. 2020. Indicators of hydro-ecological alteration for the rivers of the United States. Ecological Indicators 120: 106908
- McManamay, R.A., E. Parish, C.R. DeRolph. 2020. A dataset of eco-evidence tools to inform early-stage environmental impact assessments of hydropower development. Data in Brief 30: 105629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2020.105629
- McManamay, R.A., E. Parish, C.R. DeRolph, A. Witt, W. Graf, A. Burtner. 2020. Evidence-based indicator approach to guide preliminary environmental impact assessments of hydropower development. Journal of Environmental Management 265: 110489 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110489
- Surendran Nair, S., A. King, J. Gulledge, B. Preston, R.A. McManamay, C. Clark. 2020.Economic losses from extreme weather in the U.S. Gulf Coast region: Spatially differential contributions of climate hazard and socioeconomic exposure and vulnerability. Environmental Research Letters DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab7b9a
- Gangrade, S., S-C. Kao, R.A. McManamay. 2020. Multi-model and Multi-resolution Hydroclimate Projections for the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin in the Southeastern United States. Scientific Reports 10:2870. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-59806-6
- Richter, B.D. et al. (R.A. McManamay, 9th author). 2020. Water scarcity and fish imperilment driven by beef production. Nature Sustainability https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0483-z
- Karpack, M.N., R.R. Morrison, R.A. McManamay. 2020. Quantitative assessment of floodplain functionality using an index of integrity. Ecological Indicators 111: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.106051
- Hecht, J.S., R.M. Vogel, R.A. McManamay, C.N. Kroll, J.M. Reed. 2020. Decision trees for incorporating hypothesis tests of hydrologic alteration into hydropower-ecosystem tradeoffs. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management 146(5): 04020017. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001184
2019
- McManamay, R.A., C.R. DeRolph, S. Surendran Nair, M. Dumas-Allen. 2019. Spatially explicit land-energy-water future scenarios for cities: Guiding infrastructure transitions for urban sustainability. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 112: 880-900
- DeRolph, C.R., R.A. McManamay, A.M. Morton, S. Surendran Nair. 2019. City energysheds and renewable energy in the United States. Nature Sustainability 2: 412–420
- McManamay, R.A., C.R. DeRolph. 2019. A stream classification system for the conterminous United States. Scientific Data 6: 190017 (2019)
- Parish, E., B.M. Pracheil, R.A. McManamay, S.L. Curd, C.R. DeRolph, B.T. Smith. 2019. Review of environmental metrics used across multiple sectors and geographies to evaluate the effects of hydropower development. Applied Energy 238:101-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.01.038
- McManamay, R.A., J.S. Perkin, H.I. Jager. 2019. Commonalities in stream connectivity restoration alternatives: An attempt to simplify barrier removal optimization. Ecosphere 10(2):e02596. 10.1002/ecs2.2596
- McManamay, R.A., F. Linam, T. J. Mathews, M.J. Peterson. 2019. Scaling mercury biodynamics from individuals to populations: implications of an herbivorous fish on mercury cycles in streams. Freshwater Biology DOI: 10.1111/fwb.13265
2018
- Allen, M.R., S.M.A. Zaidi, V. Chandola, A.M. Morton, C.M. Brelsford, R.A. McManamay, B. KC, J. Sanyal, R.N. Stewart, B.L. Bhaduri. 2018. A survey of methods for Energy-Water Nexus knowledge discovery. Big Earth Data. DOI: 10.1080/20964471.2018.1524344.
- McManamay R.A., M.J. Troia, C.R. DeRolph, A. Sheldon Olivero, A.R. Barnett, S-C. Kao, M.G. Anderson. 2018. A stream classification system to explore the physical habitat diversity and anthropogenic impacts in riverscapes of the eastern United States. PLoS ONE 13(6): e0198439. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198439
- Brewer, S.K., T.A. Worthington, R. Mollenhauer, D.R. Stewart, R.A. McManamay, L. Geurtault, D. Moore. 2018. Synthesizing models useful for ecohydrology and ecohydraulic approaches: An emphasis on integrating models to address complex research questions. Ecohydrology https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1966
- McManamay, R.A, J.G. Smith, R.T. Jett, T.J. Mathews, M.J. Peterson. 2018. Identifying non-reference sites to guide restoration and long-term monitoring. Science of the Total Environment DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.107
2017
- Troia, M.J., R.A. McManamay. 2017. Completeness and coverage of open-access freshwater fish distribution data in the United States. Diversity and Distributions DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12637
- McManamay, R.A., S. Surendran Nair, C.R. DeRolph, B.L. Ruddell, A.M. Morton, R.N. Stewart, M.J. Troia, L. Tran, H. Kim, B.L. Bhaduri. 2017. US cities can manage national hydrology and biodiversity using local infrastructure policy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114: 9581–9586. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1706201114
2016
- McManamay, R.A., S.K. Brewer, H. Jager, M. Troia. 2016. Organizing environmental flow frameworks to meet US Hydropower mitigation needs. Environmental Management 58: 365-385.
- Troia, MJ, R.A. McManamay. 2016. Filling in the Gaps: characterizing spatial, environmental, and temporal coverage of open-access biodiversity data. Ecology and Evolution DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2225
- McManamay, R.A., R.T. Jett, M.G. Ryon, S.M. Gregory, S.H. Stratton, M.J. Peterson, 2016. Dispersal limitations on fish community recovery following long-term water quality remediation. Hydrobiologia DOI: 10.1007/s10750-015-2612-7
- McManamay, R.A., C. Oigbokie, S-C. Kao, M.S. Bevelhimer. 2016. A classification of US hydropower dams by their modes of operation. River Research and Applications DOI: 10.1002/rra.3004
2015
- McManamay, R.A., B.K. Peoples, D.J. Orth, C.A. Dolloff, and D.C. Matthews. 2015. Isolating causal pathways between flow and fish in the regulated river hierarchy. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 72: 1731-1748.
- McManamay, R.A., and E.A. Frimpong. 2015. Hydrologic filtering of fish life history strategies across the US: Implications of streamflow alteration on fish assemblages. Ecological Applications 25: 243-263. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/14-0247.1
- McManamay, R.A., N. Samu, S-C. Kao, M.S. Bevelhimer, and S.C. Hetrick. 2015. A multi-scale spatial approach to address environmental effects of small hydropower development. Environmental Management 55: 217-243.