He received a bachelor’s degree from Goshen College in 1985. He went on to receive a master’s degree and doctorate in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His fields of specialization included environmental, public and urban economics and his dissertation focused on local measures to control rapid urban growth. While living in Sebastopol, Calif., over the past 10 years, Richer conducted research for the U.S. Forest Service and taught in the Department of Business and Economics at Sonoma State University and at New College of California in the first master’s of business administration in sustainable enterprise program.