In For the Love of Rivers, stream ecologist Kurt Fausch draws listeners across the reflective surface of streams to view what is beneath, ponder how they work, and consider what is essential about streams and rivers for us as humans.

In this beautiful memoir, he uses his many years of experience as a field biologist to explain the underlying science connecting these aquatic ecosystems and their fishes to streamside forests and the organisms found there—including humans. For the Love of Rivers introduces listeners to the life and work of Shigeru Nakano, a pioneering Japanese river ecologist who inspired other scientists around the world with his innovative research on stream-forest connections.

Fausch takes listeners along as he journeys to Japan, where he awakens to an unfamiliar culture, and to Nakano and his research. Nakano’s life was abruptly ended in a tragic field accident, and his death was deeply mourned. Fausch joins Japanese and American colleagues to continue Nakano’s research legacy, learn everything they can about the effects humans have on rivers, fish, and their intricate links with riparian zones, and share this knowledge with others.

More than a book about stream ecology, For the Love of Rivers is a celebration of the interconnectedness of life. It is an authoritative and accessible look at the science of rivers and streams, but it also ponders the larger questions of why rivers are important to humans, why it is in our nature to want to be near them, and what we can do to ensure the future of these essential ecosystems.