Ryan Fritsch

Ryan is an accomplished Environmental Scientist with extensive experience in desktop analysis and field-based assessments. His competencies also extend to surface and groundwater sampling, stakeholder engagement, botanical studies, fauna spotting, wildlife handling, and producing technical reports. He has conducted fish passage assessments, fauna surveys using Elliot traps, pitfall traps, and funnel traps, and developed bushfire management plans for asset protection and designing firebreaks while working with Redleaf Environmental.

Prior to this, Ryan worked in central Australia where he contributed to the sampling of various water sources in Alice Springs, including monitoring wastewater, bore wells, and COVID through waterway sampling. He also engaged with stakeholders for a land clearing application for ALDEA and acted as the lead botanist for a landscape rehydration project, conducting botanical surveys to establish long-term monitoring sites. Ryan was also part of the team conducting biodiversity surveys for the Nolan's bore project for Arafura Resources.

In addition to his experience in ecological surveys, Ryan has worked as a fauna spotter for a tree service company in southeast Queensland. His responsibilities included overseeing all tree removals and creating habitat trees for local councils, civil companies, and defense/training bases.

During his studies, Ryan completed his Honours project, which focused on the long-term effects of sealing a forest road on small mammals. He also participated in field trips abroad, including biodiversity assessments with Chitwan National Park in Nepal and investigating possible food web interactions for Nepenthes in Maliau Basin in Borneo. Before beginning his undergraduate degree, Ryan assisted in various surveys, including whale/dolphin, bird, and floral surveys, during a University of Cumbria field trip to The Gambia in West Africa. He also photographed the thought-to-be-locally-extinct West African Dwarf Crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis).

Ryan's passion for environmental surveys and assessments began during his tenure as a zookeeper at Australia Zoo. Ryan's communication skills are exemplary, and he can interact with people from diverse backgrounds and engage them in on-site discussions or technical report delivery for clients.