Riley is a Chinese-American writer and photographer, and one of six inaugural Murrow News Fellows placed in local newsrooms around Washington state. He covers an environmental beat for The Chinook Observer, based on the Long Beach peninsula.
Prior to becoming a journalist, Riley fought wildfires with the Stanislaus and Baker River Hotshots, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Timor, Indonesia, and taught high school English in Hawaii and Vermont. A New England native, he holds a BS in Biology from Cornell University and an MFA in nonfiction writing from Oregon State University.