Rate My Professor Ryan Luna

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.