Ryanne
Pilgeram
Ryanne joined The Wilderness Society in January 2023 as the Regenerative Economies Manager.
Ryanne starts her journey with TWS today from her remote office in Moscow, Idaho. She will be working closely with our CLC Team and staff from across TWS to help us define, coordinate, and implement strategies and policies to promote a Just Transition away from unsustainable, industrial-scale natural resource extraction through avenues that support thriving and vibrant communities.
Before joining TWS, Ryanne was a Professor of Sociology at the University of Idaho where she worked for over a decade and ran the USDA-funded “Women Farmers & Ranchers on the Rise in Idaho and the US” project. She is the author of numerous publications, most recently a book, “Pushed Out,” which examines the structural causes of inequity in rural communities. Ryanne has deep connections to the American West, especially Montana and North Idaho where she grew up in a ranching family and spent many summers as a tour guide in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. Both her personal and professional life centers efforts to envision rural communities where people can thrive.
Ryanne holds a BA in Sociology from Pacific University and an MS and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Oregon. She spends her free time with her husband and their three children working in the garden, cross-country skiing, picking berries and mushrooms, and caring for their many pets.
