Riley Blanchard, GIT - Staff Geologist II

As a native to the Wenatchee Valley, I grew up in awe learning about the great ice age mega-floods that molded the valley of my birth. As a young child, my interest in geology was expanded further thanks to my father taking me to Mt. St. Helens and on multi-day rafting trips in the deep canyons of northeastern Oregon as a family tradition since 1948. Little did I know that these experiences would ignite a desire to pursue a career in geology.

In 2019, I graduated from Central Washington University with a B.S. in Geology with a minor in Environmental Science. In the summer of 2019, I had the opportunity to finish my degree in the Himalayas of Nepal for 9 weeks through the School for International Training. From traverse mapping the deepest river gorge in the world to studying unsustainable aquifer extractions leading to ground subsidence in the Kathmandu Valley, this experience opened my eyes to the challenges we face as a global society with finite resources. After returning from Nepal, I started graduate school at CWU studying how wildfires impact our snowpacks in the western US.

In 2021, I was hired by the US Geological Survey out of the mid-Columbia Field Office in Kennewick where I worked side-by-side with the Army Corps of Engineers in managing the Total Dissolved Gas Abatement Study at 14 sites along the lower Snake, Clearwater, and Columbia Rivers as part of ensuring anadromous fish survival through the system of dams. I also performed discharge measurements at numerous streams and rivers in southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon during my time working for Uncle Sam.

After spending a couple years living in tri-cities, my wife and I decided it was time to move back to our hometown to be near family. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my wife and our two dogs at home. We both love getting outside too, and you’ll find us rafting, kayaking, skiing, hiking, fishing, backpacking, and biking.

Contact Riley at (509) 381-2106, or via email below: