Ryan Durkopp joined the VISIONS team in 2004 as a staff member in Guadeloupe. Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, Ryan is an avid runner, hiker, and mountain biker. He was initially exposed to the French language when he spent a year in Cameroon as a seventh-grader. Ryan spent 1999-2001 as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guinea, West Africa, where he met his wife and VISIONS Ghana co-director, Annie. They lived and worked in rural villages among the Mande where Ryan taught math and AIDS education and Annie organized and offered health and AIDS-prevention education and trained health workers in disease prevention.In addition to West Africa, his passion for cross-cultural contact has led Ryan to India, Egypt, Europe, and Central America. Ryan holds a B.S. in Mathematics from the College of Idaho. He is currently pursing a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at the University of Pittsburgh where he participates in an Indonesian gong ensemble. Ryan's favorite pastimes include cooking, playing the guitar, spending time with his wife and their dog and cat, and rooting for the Steelers.In Fall 2010, Ryan and Annie returned to Guinea, West Africa, where Ryan is completing pre-dissertation research in Ethnomusicology, University of Pittsburgh. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in this pursuit.