The Work Continues

One of our own, Ryan Paul Exline, a first-year professional masters student, died on Dec. 17 of injuries sustained in an automobile accident caused by icy roads.

Ryan was an extraordinary student and at the same time, a typical student. Extraordinary, in his commitment to the environment and desire to make the world a better place. Typical, in that so many of our students share the same dedication and enthusiasm.

Ryan came to the Nicholas School by way of Warren Wilson College as part of our 3-2 program: Three years in an undergraduate program, two at the Nicholas School. Students who complete the program graduate with a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Environmental Management. A unique aspect of Warren Wilson College is its emphasis on service. For Ryan that largely translated into work with the Audubon Society, assisting with educational programs, caring for Bald Eagles, and doing research on softshell turtles. Work that prepared him well for the graduate program here at the Nicholas School.

Ryan was a quiet young man, but one with a quick and dry sense of humor. Professor Curt Richardson, Ryan’s faculty advisor, relates that shortly after Ryan arrived last fall, he asked Ryan what he was good at. Without missing a beat, Ryan said, “I’m pretty good at picking locks.” It seems that while at Warren Wilson, Ryan worked on the college’s locksmith crew and as Warren Wilson President Sandy Pfeiffer reported, he “was the best student [the locksmith] ever had.”

Ryan was also somewhat of a rebel, ready to break down barriers. “This is what I learned about myself so far on the adventure called life,” Ryan wrote, “if you say jump, I’m likely to ask, off what? Rules are made to be broken. Lines are drawn to be crossed.”   But he was a thoughtful rebel: “I pick my battles carefully. There is always a strategy.”

The loss of a young man with so much spirit and promise is hard to accept and this tragedy, coming at the end of December filled with the hopes for the New Year, was especially difficult.

My life has seen some difficult and painful times; a loss that was seemingly impossible to bear. The lesson I took away from that loss was simply this: life goes on. It was hard to believe possible, that even in the darkest of hours and despite a wish to the contrary, the world just kept on turning on its axis. Eventually, I found, there was little choice but to jump back on the spinning planet and get about the business of doing the life’s work that I had set for myself.

Ryan came to the Nicholas School to work on wetland ecology. Inspired by their beauty, cognizant of the habitat they afford for wildlife, impressed by the services they provide to society, and alarmed at their rate of degradation, Ryan was committed to the work of preserving and restoring wetlands around the world. Indeed all of us at the Nicholas School find ourselves here because of a love of the world and a desire to protect it for future generations.

While Ryan is no longer with us, the reason he came to the Nicholas School, the need to work for a more sustainable future for all has not gone away. For the sake of Ryan’s memory, we will keep our feet firmly planted on this spinning globe and continue the work Ryan had chosen for his life, the work we have chosen for ours.

Ryan is survived by his parents, two sisters, and four brothers. Our hearts and thoughts go out to them. The family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Jamestown Audubon Society, 1600 Riverside Road, Jamestown, N.Y. 14701.