Howdy!

My name is Ryan Klataske and I’m an anthropologist and consultant, as well as a beef producer, prairie enthusiast, travel guide, and father of two adventurous kids in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

I’m founder & principal at Applied Ethnographic Services, helping businesses, organizations, and research teams better understand people and transform work culture.
I’m also the co-owner of Ancient Ocean Beef Co, providing grass-fed, grass-finished, and prairie friendly beef that contributes to the conservation, restoration, and stewardship of tallgrass prairie.

Contact Me

Anthropological Perspective, Ethnographic Toolkit, Rural Heritage

A bit more about me

I always wanted to be a paleontologist. That didn’t happen, but now I get to go fossil hunting with my kids, read together about ancient Kansas creatures like mosasaurs, and and continue to explore the world around me, both past and present. As a cultural anthropologist and ethnographer, I study another complex and fascinating species: humans. I’m curious and passionate about people, stories, exploration, and making anthropology relevant and useful.

As a consultant, I partner with businesses, organizations, and research teams to provide valuable insights into the human dimensions of problems, issues, and opportunities for change within workplaces and rural communities, in particular. I combine expertise in ethnographic research with both personal and professional experience in agriculture and rural life.

My recent work has focused on the well-being of agricultural and food production workers, farm and ranch families, livestock production, work culture, and rural communities, primarily in the Great Plains. I bring a unique perspective and toolkit for solving problems, generating insights, and providing recommendations for partners in multiple industries, disciplines, and a wide range of situations involving humans.

After earning my PhD in anthropology with a doctoral specialization and Environmental Science and Policy from Michigan State University, I taught courses in cultural, applied, engaged anthropology at Kansas State University, where I was recognized for creative and innovative teaching. I also worked for a grassroots conservation organization and continue to be involved in community-based efforts to protect the natural and cultural values of rural landscapes.

Klataske interviewing Namibian farmworkers

I’m an adjunct professor in the Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, as well as an Affiliate Fellow of the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I serve on a beef sustainability research advisory board and the Board of Directors for the Friends of Konza Prairie, which supports environmental education at the Konza Prairie Biological Station near Manhattan, KS.

I’m also the founder and co-owner of Ancient Ocean Beef Co., providing grass-fed, grass-finished, and prairie-friendly beef. In partnership with my father, we raise cattle on family ranchland in the Flint Hills of Kansas, one of the last remaining areas of native tallgrass prairie in North America.

I lead a birding and hiking tour of Kansas, introducing visitors to the state’s tallgrass and mixed grass prairies. This summer, I’m leading a similar tour of Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park, located in Lake Superior.

In addition to my work and travels in the Plains, I’ve lived and conducted ethnographic research with ranchers and rural communities in Namibia, worked on farms and vagabonded through Canada and Europe, taught English in China, studied in Spain and Mexico, and explored many diverse parts of southern Africa and North America.