School of Freshwater Sciences
Great Lakes WATER Institute
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Current Studies
•Hierarchical function in growth and collapse.
•Sustainability: Oxymoron or measurable goal
•Bridging the gap between knowledge and creativity (Sotl study).
•Integrative Water Resource Sustainabiity of Laguna Bacalar, Mexico.
•A hypothesis of matter and spacial continuity.
Prospectus
::Jerry "River" has spearheaded numerous projects over his career.
He initiated the founding of an international, professional scientific journal, now in its 29th year. In June, 2001, He was honored by North American Benthological Society for “providing the foundation for JNABS”, at the 49th Annual Meeting.
::He initiated the National Geographical Society funded discovery and exploration of the underwater hydrothermal vents in Yellowstone Lake; 20+ years running and now researched by scientists from around the world.
::River has explored some of the premier lakes in the world, including the famed Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia where his group was the first western scientists to circumnavigate the lake. This led to a long-term scientific exchange between US and Russian scientists.
::He has received continuous scientific funding for 30 years from corporate, government and private sources, resulting in a host of publications and opportunity for graduate students.
::He holds two scientific patents in biofiltration and nuisance mussel control.
::Rivers’s latest project is the founding of Laguna Bacalar Institute in 2007, that is dedicated to preserving the pristine waters of Laguna Bacalar, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico (www.LagunaBacalarInstitute.com).
::Selected as a Scholar in Teaching and Learning 2009-2010; His study is titled “Bridging the Gap Between Knowledge and Creativity”.
::Started the program "When Children Change a Community" -- Local Action, Global Impact.
(part of the Laguna Bacalar Institute)
About River
Greetings from Jerry "River" Kaster. My birth name is Jerry Lee Kaster (shortened version of the original Dutch name - Kaaster that I sometimes use). My Grandmother's ancestry is Wilfong, from the Wildfang lineage (meaning, to catch prey), that dates back more than 1000 years in Europe. In the new world, Grandmother is of Dutch and northern Anishinaabe Métis, also known as the Otipemisiwak -- "those who own themselves".
I am Dutch-Métis.
Outside of science, I have a great interest in Euro ab origine - Nativo interface traditions especially with regard to water resources, hierarchy growth and collapse, and the integration of earth based belief with science.
“How does your river flow?”
Jerry “River” Kaster
The river’s flow has a rhythm.
The collective earth has brought the eternal flow of the river
to yet another fork.
What comes next?
Life’s river flow is unceasing.
There can be no standstill.
To cease flow, is to cease.
How does your river flow?
The current grips tightly
as it sweeps you along.
It carries you without intention.
As you bob up and down and shift side to side, the fork draws nearer.
This is the river’s rhythm.
Up, down, side to side.
Either branch of the river’s fork is unfamiliar.
But choose, or the river will choose.
Close your eyes and choose from deep inside.
Listen to the rhythm of your river.
Tugging and pulling and pushing and prodding.
Listen.
You are the river.
This is your rhythm.
This is how your river flows.
