Anthropologist. Consultant. Rancher.

Ryan Klataske is an applied cultural anthropologist and rancher whose work connects people, agriculture, food, conservation, health, and rural communities. As an ethnographic consultant, he partners with organizations and research teams to better understand the human dimensions of work, food systems, environmental stewardship, and organizational culture. Ryan raises cattle on family ranchland in the Flint Hills of Kansas, focusing on regenerative beef production and prairie conservation.

Founder & Principal, Applied Ethnographic Services
Co-founder, Ancient Ocean Beef Co.
Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Affiliate Fellow, Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Contact Me

Applied Ethnographic Services

AES is a research and consulting firm that partners with interdisciplinary teams and organizations to design and conduct ethnographic and qualitative research, bringing deeper understanding to the human dimensions of complex, real-world problems. Learn more here.
Ancient Ocean Beef Co.

Our prairie-friendly beef comes from grass-fed & finished cattle, raised on hills that used to sit at the bottom of an ancient sea. This geology provides the foundation for the Flint Hills—the world’s last remaining intact tallgrass prairie landscape, which our family (and cattle) help conserve. Learn more here.
Klataske Ranch

Our family ranch in the Flint Hills of Kansas combines cattle production with a long-term commitment to conserving and restoring native tallgrass prairie. Through thoughtful adaptive grazing, prescribed fire, habitat restoration, and other stewardship practices, we work to sustain healthy grasslands, wildlife, and a working landscape for future generations.

Anthropological Perspective. Ethnographic Toolkit. Rural Heritage.

Selected Projects

Regenerative Ranching & Grasslands

Working with an interdisciplinary team of animal scientists, beef cattle experts, agroecologists, engineers, and economists, this project uses ethnographic research to understand how ranchers, landowners, and lenders make ranch-management decisions and to develop practical, place-based tools that support ranching livelihoods and sustain Great Plains grasslands.
Nebraska Agricultural Oral History

This project documents the experiences of multi-generational Nebraska farm and ranch families, exploring how local ecological knowledge contributes to the resilience of agricultural producers and communities across the state. Through in-depth interviews and personal narratives, the project preserves rural histories while examining how families navigate continuity and change to pass farms, ranches, knowledge, and values from one generation to the next.
Child-Livestock Interactions

This research explored the “farm kid paradox”—the simultaneous benefits and risks of raising children around livestock. Working with farm and ranch parents, this project examined how families understand and navigate child-livestock interactions, balancing the developmental, social, and cultural benefits of growing up around agriculture with concerns about injury, safety, and other risks inherent to farm and ranch environments.
Cattle Feedyard Safety and Health

Ongoing ethnographic work in the cattle feeding industry examines the social, cultural, and organizational dimensions of worker safety, health, and well-being, while supporting research and outreach initiatives—developed through sustained industry partnerships—focused on safety training, workplace culture, stress, and access to healthcare in rural communities.
Meatpacking and COVID-19

This ethnographic research—part of a broader interdisciplinary SARS-CoV-2 exposure assessment—examined the experiences of workers in large U.S. beef processing plants, focusing on how workplace conditions, organizational practices, and pandemic responses shaped occupational health, safety, and overall well-being.
Safety & Work Culture on Dairy Farms

This rapid ethnographic assessment examined worker safety and workplace culture on large New York dairy farms. Through immersive research with workers, managers, owners, and operators, the project identified farm-specific challenges and opportunities and developed practical recommendations to improve safety, communication, workplace culture, and organizational performance.