Bob Riege grew up in Minnesota and attended high school in Rochester and Junior College. He also holds a Bachelor of Science and a Masters degree from Winona State University. He has done extensive graduate study at the University of Wyoming and the University of Minnesota. Currently Bob teaches American History, Advanced Placement American History and Humanities at Austin High School.

Bob Riege is an excellent example of a teacher that brings the outdoors into his classroom. Mr. Riege has been instrumental in establishing a cross-curricular course for students entitled the Great River Project. Mr. Riege's role in this class was to add a cohesive element to the disciplines of English and Science, along with American History. Students in this class experience the outdoors by collecting water samples, floral, and fauna samples of the environment around rivers and streams and how they would influence the Great River, the Mississippi. Students then developed knowledge about the historical elements of this area and then wrote essays and literary works about their experience.

Besides being involved in this project, Bob Riege has developed Fish Fairs for the local schools to experience during the school year. He has coordinated various agencies to provide assistance in these Fish Fairs. We have had bankers giving seminars on fish identification, DARE officers showing students how to cast a fishing rod, and teachers and civic leaders educating the youth about water safety.

Bob has demonstrated to his students how to be ethical while in the outdoors especially as it pertains to harvesting game. He has used his knowledge of the outdoors to share some harvested game with his students so they can have the experience of what venison would have tasted like to early explorers