I seek to inspire others, especially children, to take action, to be explorers of change, and to initiate positive change at the local community level. Because children are valuable members of a community, I encourage children to fulfill the mission of "When children change a community..." by having children engage their parent's involvement.
Laguna Bacalar located in the Southern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. This is Mexico's 2nd largest lake, 35 miles long with turqoise freshwater, cenotes, jungle, mangroves, exceptional ecology, Maya culture and history. The Maya called Laguna Bacalar the "Lake of Seven Colors".
My goal is to advance our understanding of how science based resource conservation of Mexico’s world class Laguna Bacalar interfaces with the advancement of tourism leading to local community development of sustainable resource/tourism usage. Students will participate in varied aspects of scientific research and research in tourism, to investigate the complexity of boundaries that exist between the two. The integration of these two fields, science and tourism, has broad economic, political, and social consequences, but can begin at the local, community level. The thrust of the idea is to engage school children with hands-on investigative research to better understand the science/tourism sustainability connection. The student approach will be coupled with their learning and research on traditional tourism, eco-tourism, and the ability for a community to direct the advancing commercialism.
::Spearheaded numerous projects over his career. Kaster founded 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.
::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.
::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 holds two scientific patents in biofiltration and nuisance mussel control.
::Founded the 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 SoTL Scholar in Teaching and Learning 2009-2010; His study is titled “Bridging the Gap Between Knowledge and Creativity”.
::Founded “Monkeys without Borders”, a children’s educational non-profit organization encouraging water sustainability; 2009.
