Riley Thomson (Class of 2009, Canada) has lived between the tropics of Costa Rica and the continental climate of Canada since childhood. He was four years old when his family left their home country to build a new life between Costa Rica’s seas and mountains. In both countries, his family had a special bond with nature. They camped, explored forests, rivers, and beaches. That’s how Riley fell in love with the natural world and decided he wanted to dedicate his life to protecting it. As a young boy, he thought he would become a biologist—until he heard about EARTH University. He realized that Agricultural Sciences could also allow him to study biodiversity, while giving him the chance to learn through hands-on experience.
“Working in tropical agriculture forces us to become intertwined with nature. The ecology behind agriculture is much more present here in Costa Rica than in the North, where monoculture is the norm and growing seasons are rigid due to climate. In the tropics, we are almost obligated to be ecological in our approach. Having experience in both worlds—the tropics and the North—can make us more complete professionals. In my case, working in the coffee supply chain has helped me empathize with producers in the South and consumers in the North. Understanding both realities adds enormous value to relationships and fairness within the production chain,” he explains.
Riley didn’t study coffee production at EARTH. His focus was biointensive and sustainable agriculture, with a special interest in agroforestry systems. “I wanted to work with a crop that could integrate into the landscape, not displace it.” After graduating, that mindset led him to choose coffee as his field of work, not only for its productive potential, but for its capacity to drive environmental regeneration. Today, Riley leads the Sustainability Department of Volcafe in Costa Rica, a global coffee trading company. From there, he works directly with smallholder farmers in Costa Rica and buyers in Europe and North America. His work is about connecting both ends of the supply chain—not just commercially, but on a human level: understanding the reality of tropical farms and translating it into the sustainability standards required by the market.
“Often, sustainability criteria are written by people sitting at desks in the North, with little connection to realities in the field,” he explains. That’s why it’s crucial to have professionals who understand both contexts—people who can build bridges, generate mutual understanding, and help decision-making be more empathetic and grounded in context.
“Studying at EARTH allows you to truly understand the tropics—both dry and humid—from within. You learn to live with, adapt to, and observe its biodiversity. And that experience shapes you in a unique way,” he says. Riley is now working closely with producers, speaks fluent Spanish with a Costa Rican accent, and is fulfilling his childhood dream: he has become a protector of nature.