Walter Rast

USA

Prof. Emeritus, Texas State University

Director, International Institute for Sustainable Water Resources, Alamo College District

Walter Rast retired from Texas State University in 2018 after 20 years as Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Director of the Aquatic Resources Graduate Program. He previously was Chief, Freshwater Unit, and subsequently Deputy Director, Water Branch, of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) during the 1990’s. Prior to UNEP, he was Senior Environmental Advisor to the US/Canada International Joint Commission, advising this binational commission on water-related issues along the US-Canada border, including nonpoint-source pollution of the North American Great Lakes. Prior to that, he was a Research Hydrologist, Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey. He received his doctoral degree in Environmental Science from the University of Texas at Dallas in 1978. His water expertise is in assessment and integrated management of lakes, reservoirs and other lentic water systems and their watersheds, the nature and sustainability of their ecosystem services, and lake limnology/aquatic chemistry.

He has published more than 30 peer reviewed articles, and more than 30 technical documents and research reports for national governments, international organizations and conference proceedings. He is an editor of six books, and the author/co-author of chapters for 22 other books. He is a member of multiple expert and working groups, including scientific and research institutions, and has served on a number of international conference organizing committees. He currently chairs ILEC’s international Scientific Committee, and is also the Editor-in-Chief of ILEC’s peer-reviewed journal (Lakes and Reservoirs: Science, Policy and Management for Sustainable Use). He has been an invited keynote speaker at a number of ILEC and other international conferences and workshops. He previously served as supervisor or committee member for multiple master’s and doctoral graduates at Texas State University. He also is the current Director of the International Institute for Sustainable Water Resources, Alamo College District, Texas (www.iiswr.org).