Ryan M. Seidemann
Ryan M. Seidemann
Adjunct Professor
Phone: (225) 771 4910
Fax: (225) 771- 5913
Email: RSeidemann@sulc.edu
Ryan M. Seidemann earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Florida State University, focusing on human remains analysis with research at the Smithsonian Institution and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. He completed a master’s degree in Anthropology at Louisiana State University with a thesis on Maya skeletal remains from Belize. Ryan later earned both a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Juris Doctorate at LSU and, in 2021, a Ph.D. in Urban Studies/Urban Anthropology from the University of New Orleans, with a dissertation on cemetery preservation inequities in New Orleans.
Throughout his law practice in both Louisiana and Vermont, Ryan has continuously showcased his ability to balance the intersecting world of environmental science and law. Ryan is the general counsel for The Water Institute in Baton Rouge and he holds adjunct appointments at Southern University Law Center, the Departments of Planning & Urban Studies and Anthropology & Sociology at the University of New Orleans, and the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. Ryan previously served as an Assistant Attorney General (2005-2024) and Chief of the Lands & Natural Resources Section (2007-2024) of the Louisiana Department of Justice. In that position, he represented the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, the Office of State Lands, Louisiana Cemetery Board, and the Louisiana Division of Archaeology, among other government agencies. He has argued cases in most Louisiana district courts, all Louisiana appellate courts, and multiple times before the Louisiana Supreme Court. Ryan has authored or co-authored more than 100 publications on human remains, cemeteries, and environmental and mineral law.
Ryan specializes in complex interactions of the law and social sciences, with particular focus on disaster response, mortuary archaeology, and historic preservation. Ryan's legal practice spans more than 20 years of research, writing, and advising on matters of water, environmental, property, natural resources, cemeteries, and human remains law.
PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS
In review
Public Commemorations of the Erased: New Orleans’ Troubled History with the Destruction and Disappearance of Cemeteries, The Public Historian (Seidemann)
In review
Who are the trafficked dead? An examination into personhood and postmortem narratives in skull sales on eBay. In Huffer, D. and E. Handby (eds.), Investigating Online Heritage Crime: New Directions, New Technologies, Emerging Markets. New York: Berghahn Books. (Seidemann, Halling)
In review
Yellow Fever’s Visibility in the Historical (Bio)archaeological Record, International Journal of Paleopathology (Garcia-Putnam, Seidemann, Garcia-Blanco, Moran, Miller)
In review
Planning for the Unexpected Dead: The Implications of Cemeteries in Land Use Planning in Louisiana and Beyond, Journal of the American Planning Association (Seidemann)
In review
Reconciling Historic Hospital Records with a Contemporary Skeletal Dataset: Exploring the Osteological Paradox from a Historical Bioarchaeology Perspective, Current Anthropology (Garcia-Putnam, Murphy, Halling, Seidemann)
In review
It’s Good to be the King: Was There a Spanish Royal Decree that Removed a Cemetery Dedication from an Early New Orleans Cemetery?, Louisiana History (Seidemann)
ARTICLES
2025
Cemetery Protections in Urban Environments: Archaeology, Preservation, and the Law, University Press of Florida (Seidemann)
2024
Do We Have to Litigate Title? An Analysis of the State of Louisiana’s Legal Authority to Resolve Title Disputes Arising from Conflicting Mineral Claims Short of Title Trials that Risk the Loss of Public Trust Resources, 12 LSU J. Energy Law & Resources 542 (Anderson, Seidemann, Bates)
2023
Commemorating Disaster: Hurricane Audrey Through Gravemarkers, AGS Quarterly 46(4):4-9 (Halling and Seidemann)
Who and Where is Robert Brown? Another Errant Louisiana Grave Marker and A Call for Assistance, Le Raconteur: The Journal of Le Comité des Archives de la Louisiane 43(4): 274-282 (Halling, Seidemann)
Postmortem Examination as Necroviolence at Charity Hospital Cemetery #2 (A.D. 1847-1929), Historical Archaeology 57(2):788-808 (Garcia-Putnam, Halling, Seidemann)
Untangling the Convoluted Ownership History of Sweet Olive Cemetery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Le Raconteur: The Journal of Le Comité des Archives de la Louisiane 43(3): 189-196 (Pingitore, Halling, Seidemann)
A Collective Sigh from Congress: The African-American Burial Grounds Preservation Program, The SAA Archaeological Record 23(2):6-8 (Seidemann)
2022
Review of United States Laws Pertaining to the Recovery and Analysis of Human Skeletal Remains, Journal of Forensic Sciences 67(5):1876-1889 (Carter, Newman, Seidemann, Reedy)
Complete Destruction of Error Stones: Due Diligence Helps to Maintain Your Business and Cemetery Reputation, American Cemetery & Cremation (Seidemann and Halling)
The Curious Case of the Axis in the Privy: What Legally Constitutes a Cemetery in Louisiana?, 69(6) Louisiana Bar Journal 442 (Seidemann, Halling, Gray)
What is an Oyster?: Campo v. United States, — Fed. Cl. —, 2021 WL 6102151 (Ct. Fed. Cl. 2021), 69(6) Louisiana Bar Journal 486 (Seidemann)