Riley was raised on his family’s farm outside of Othello, Washington.  He developed a fascination with insects at an early age and decided to become an entomologist when he was just five years old.  After a semi successful attempt at harvesting honey from a feral hive a few years later, he fell in love with beekeeping.  This passion for honey bees eventually lead him to Washington State University where he began working on this PhD under Dr. Brandon Hopkins.  Currently Riley is studying the potential use of ozone fumigation to sterilize store combs as well as methods of improving pollination in vegetable seed.