Julie Ryan provides detailed and balanced environmental news coverage to give North Texans important perspective at this critical time, when traditional news sources have laid off reporters and cut back on environmental reporting.

Julie's work has informed public dialogue to support sustainable lifestyles and the organizations that share that mission. She has lectured, led workshops and written curriculum on sustainable land care. She co-authored Landscaping with Native Texas Plants, the first book on the topic and a Texas bestseller. Her 1998 book Perennial Gardens for Texas is a guide to statewide ecology, native and adapted plants, and garden care for Texas and the Gulf South, cited as an "indispensable resource" by Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine. It presents practices that conserve resources, protect soil and water and support pollinators and biodiversity.

Julie's environmental articles provide a well-researched perspective to inform the public on key issues covering the broad spectrum of environmental impact. She responds to local concerns in stories such as “Methane Sleuths,” about widespread leaks from natural gas facilities across North Texas, and on environmental issues in the Texas Legislature, including overrule of local tree ordinances and Texas Railroad Commission policies that affect oil and gas safety and health. She has reported on Texas cities’ actions to combat climate change in support of the Mayors Climate Agreement; groundbreaking work on air quality and public health by Dr. Robert Haley, the Dallas Medical Society and Texas Medical Association, and fracking near the troubled Lake Lewisville dam. Other articles cover issues with national and global impact, such as methane emissions, responsible and environmentally sound food sources, clean water challenges posed by meat production and pesticides, endangered species preservation and monarch habitat restoration

In 2018, Julie authored comprehensive articles about concrete batch plants proposed in the beleaguered Joppa community of South Dallas and the efforts of Downwinders at Risk and UT  Dallas to launch a regional, citizen-led air monitoring network to support cleaner air in DFW.

Julie has worked with and written articles about almost every major environmental organization in or supporting North Texas, including the Dallas Sierra Club, Downwinders at Risk, Public Citizen, Environmental Defense Fund, Investor Environmental Health Network, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Earthworks, Citizens Climate Lobby and Mighty Earth. She conveys perspectives and research important to the public but scant in mainstream media. 

Through our mutual involvement in North Texas issues over several years, I’ve watched Julie work. She is tenacious, and always looks beyond the single event for its significance and the consequences for people’s lives. As a passionate and highly principled journalist, Julie's articles reflect extremely thorough research and clear thinking and provide an enlightening viewpoint into social justice responsibility. Her prose is beautiful. An excellent communicator, she is adept at relating topics to target audiences, whether readers, stakeholders or students of varied demographics and interests.