René Renteria works in Portland, OR, as the project geotechnical, pavements, and dams engineer for the Pacific Northwest and Alaska Regions. He is involved with all things ‘dirt and rock’—from soils, slope stability, and aggregates, to foundations, retaining walls, pavements, dams, and mine facilities. Along with his duties for the two regions, René is a national Forest Service technical resource for pavement engineering, working toward implementation of the new Federal Lands Transportation Program.

René began working for the Forest Service in 1980 as a firefighter in California. In 1983, he joined the Siuslaw National Forest as a student engineer trainee. He graduated from Oregon State University in 1985 with bachelor’s degrees in civil and forest engineering. After college, he began his career as a geotechnical engineer at the Willamette National Forest in Oakridge and Sweet Home, OR. He then moved to Ogden, UT, to work as the assistant regional geotechnical engineer for the Intermountain Region. In 1998, René took an assignment in Elko, NV, as the assistant forest engineer for the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. In 2000, he decided on an unofficial ‘sabbatical’ and began work with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT); first as a geotechnical engineer, then as the State pavement design engineer. In 2010, with wisdom gained from the ODOT, he returned to the Forest Service in his current position.

René has made several contributions to the geotechnical discipline, including publications and professional instruction. He was a contributing author for the Forest Service publication “Slope Stability Reference Guide for National Forests in the United States” and for the Society of Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration publication “Slope Stability in Surface Mining.” Additionally, he was managing editor for the “ODOT Pavement Design Guide” in 2007 and 2010. René has been a registered professional engineer in Oregon since 1989.

In his free time, René is an avid dual-sport motorcyclist, having completed two cross-country trips with his wife Susan, who rides her own motorcycle. René and Susan enjoy traveling with their two small dogs to rallies across the country. Their future trips include Canada, Alaska and, someday, Europe.