For the Love of Rivers: A Scientist’s Journey, by Colorado State University Professor Kurt Fausch, is the 2016 recipient of a Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award, presented on Earth Day every year since 1991. The award is sponsored by Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin.

Fausch’s book won in the category of adult literature. Awards are also handed out for young adult and children’s literature. For the Love of Rivers was selected from among 51 nominated books. It draws readers into the world of stream ecologists and the science of rivers and streams, shows readers the beauty that lies beneath the reflective surfaces of these unique ecosystems and the great peril that many face, and considers what is essential about these places for humans.

“Like trees and music and good health, streams and rivers are a gift to us as humans. They cause our deepest emotions to gather and flow near the surface, and make our days and our seasons and years worth living. We need their sounds and their views, and their sound advice.  And, in the end, I believe we will need to understand how and why we love rivers, if we hope to conserve them.”

Fausch has taught at CSU in the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology for 34 years. His worldwide research focuses on streams and rivers, the fish and wildlife that inhabit them and their streamside grasslands and forests. He has won lifetime achievement awards from the World Council of Fisheries Societies, the American Fisheries Society, and both of his alma maters.

Sigurd Olson was an American author, environmentalist and advocate for the protection of wilderness. He worked as a wilderness guide in the lakes and forests of the Quetico-Superior country of northern Minnesota and northwestern Ontario, and helped preserve the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and draft the Wilderness Act. Olsen also served as President of The Wilderness Society and the National Parks Association.

Watch videos related to Fausch’s book at www.fortheloveofrivers.org