Sean Riley is the current host of the National Geographic Channel

National Geographic Channel

National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...

's "World's Toughest Fixes

World's Toughest Fixes

World's Toughest Fixes is an American reality series that premiered on the National Geographic Channel on September 28, 2008. It features Sean Riley participating in various "tough fixes"; repairs and renovations done on equipment that is very large or dangerous...

" in which he travels around the world

World

World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....

 performing on-site feats of engineering.

Riley was raised on a secluded walnut

Walnut

Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...

 orchard

Orchard

An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...

 in Redding, CA before attending the University of California, Santa Cruz

University of California, Santa Cruz

The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...

. He majored in theater and while originally intent on acting

Acting

Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....

, became particularly interested in set design mechanics. It was during these years at UCSC that he grew increasingly involved with the technical aspects of rigging and lighting

Lighting

Lighting or illumination is the deliberate application of light to achieve some practical or aesthetic effect. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight...

, primarily for the purposes of live performance

Live performance

live performance may refer to:*A play or musical*A concert, a live performance before an audience*A dance performance, dance performed for an audience.*Live radio, radio broadcast without delay...

, rather than the more industrial purposes his talents are applied to on television. Riley left UCSC without fulfilling the general education requirements prescribed by the university. Nevertheless, Riley utilized his hands-on training, when he moved to San Francisco and began rigging and electrical work for a number of independent and local operations. After enjoying moderate success, Riley founded Gravity Design, Inc., an independent

Independent business

In business, an independent business as a term of distinction generally refers to privately owned companies . Independent businesses most commonly take the form of sole-proprietorships...

 rigging company based in San Francisco, California.

Riley was picked up by National Geographic when he responded to a Craigslist

Craigslist

Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities featuring free online classified advertisements, with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums....

 advertisement that was looking for a host for an as-of-then unnamed show. The advertisement was looking for people with a unique skill-set including welding

Welding

Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...

 certification

Certification

Certification refers to the confirmation of certain characteristics of an object, person, or organization. This confirmation is often, but not always, provided by some form of external review, education, assessment, or audit...

, scuba

Scuba diving

Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....

 certification, first aid

First aid

First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...

 certification, rigging experience, etc. These skills, coupled with his theater background at UCSC made him an ideal candidate for the job. A few months later, the pilot episode was filmed, and it aired on September 28, 2008. The show is currently in its fourth season.

External links

• National Geographic Channel official network website
• Gravity Design Riley's San Francisco based company