Congratulations to Dr. Ryan Ackett, who successfully defended his dissertation in Summer 2025 and walked at the University of Tennessee’s commencement ceremony in December 2025.
Ryan’s PhD work focused on understanding “hot moments” of nitrous oxide emissions for agricultural systems- brief windows of time that contribute disproportionately to agriculture’s impact on climate change. Throughout his degree program, Ryan examined these “hot moments” from numerous angles, including data science to identify their statistical characteristics, modeling to predict their occurrences across the globe, and as a lab scientist investigating how soil emissions may respond to conditions from a changing climate. You can read more about his work in this article!
During Ryan’s time at UTK, he received several notable awards, including:
- University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture Global Leader Award (2024)
- United Campus Workers “On Fire Award” for outstanding organizer (2023)
- First Prize in the Tri-Societies Global Climate Change Community Oral Presentation (2022)
When asked about his favorite memory from the program, Ryan said, “The day after I successfully defended my dissertation, I spent the whole beautiful summer day with my sister and significant other, swimming and relaxing at the quarry.” A great way to celebrate a great job!
Ryan has been a valuable asset to our lab. He was known for his phenomenal ideas, willingness to help others with data modeling, and ability to communicate complex topics in a clear, understandable manner. Once again, congratulations, Ryan!