Riley is a Chinese-American writer and documentary photographer. As a result of his own multicultural identity, he is driven by the belief that people's differences are circumstantial rather than fundamental, and that cultural affiliations are ultimately as arbitrary as they are meaningful.
This belief has led him far from his native New England (to Hawaii, Michigan, Indonesia, and the American West) and in search of a wide range of jobs and experiences (as an English teacher, Peace Corps volunteer, newspaper photographer, and most recently, wildland firefighter). He hopes his words and pictures convey whatever is essential about these experiences, along with the core humanity that unites them all.
Riley holds a BS in Biology from Cornell University and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Oregon State University. He is currently a member of the Baker River Hotshots—a federal wildland fire crew based on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in northwest Washington. During the offseason (November - March), he is available for assignments.