Rate My Professor Ryan Luna

Dr. Ryan S. Luna serves as Chair of the Department of Natural Sciences and Professor of Wildlife Management at Sul Ross State University, where he also holds the Kelly R. Thompson Endowed Professorship in Quail Research at the Borderlands Research Institute. He earned a Ph.D. in Aquatic Resources and Integrative Biology from Texas State University in 2013, with a dissertation examining body size, rumen-reticulum functions, and dietary nutrition of white-tailed deer. Luna previously obtained an M.S. in Biology from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2007, focusing on animal behavior studies for human-waterfowl interactions, and a B.S. in Zoology with a minor in Chemistry from Texas Tech University in 2001. Before entering academia, he worked as a Game Warden for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish from 2001 to 2003, conducting wildlife surveys, necropsies, and reintroductions. Luna joined Sul Ross State University in 2013 as an Assistant Professor of Wildlife Management, advancing to Associate Professor in 2018, achieving tenure in 2019, becoming a full Professor in 2023, serving as Chair of the Department of Natural Resource Management from 2018 to 2022, and assuming the role of Chair of Natural Sciences in 2022.

His research specializes in upland game bird ecology and management, particularly quail species in West Texas, including breeding season space use and habitat selection of scaled and Gambel's quail, survival and nesting ecology of scaled quail in the Trans-Pecos, and spatial ecology of Montezuma quail. Luna also investigates feral hog control techniques and white-tailed deer rumen-reticulum physiology. Key publications include Temple et al. (2017) 'Breeding season space use and habitat selection of adult female scaled and Gambel’s quail in West Texas' in National Quail Symposium Proceedings; Gonzalez Gonzalez et al. (2017) 'Survival and nesting ecology of scaled quail in the Trans-Pecos, Texas'; Johnson et al. (2022) 'Pathogens in Quails of the Trans-Pecos Ecoregion of Texas' in Journal of Parasitology; and Luna et al. (2013) 'Influence of body size on dietary nutrition of white-tailed deer' in Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management. His findings support landowner efforts to enhance quail populations on private lands. Luna has published 20 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 22 popular articles, and three book chapters, and presented at 76 conferences. Awards include the Sul Ross State University Outstanding Scholar Award (2022, inaugural recipient), Outstanding Teacher Award (2018-2019), West Texas Conservationist of the Year (2023), and NSF GK-12 Fellowship (2011-2013). He teaches courses such as Wildlife Management Techniques, Wildlife Population Dynamics, and Wildlife Diet and Nutrition, advises the Range and Wildlife Club, supervises graduate students, and mentors undergraduates through the BUMP program.