Rick Riewe's research interests include human interactions with climate change in the Hudson Bay Region; impacts of northern development upon circumpolar peoples; wildlife ecology; boreal ecology; northern wildlife management; northern native harvesting and utilization of wildlife; northern land claims; environmental impact assessment; and the ecology of prairie grasslandsl; wildlife products utilized by Circumpolar Aboriginal peoples; the roles of aboriginal women in the domestic economy; and the ethnology of Circumpolar Peoples. He received a Ph.D. in Zoology from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and the University of Manitoba.