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Comment by Peter Suechting on October 13, 2014 at 5:10pm

This is for Elyse Schmitt: I am working on assembling a proposal for an aquaponics facility at Amherst College in Amherst, MA. As part of the proposal I want to show that many other schools are looking to build or have already built aquaponic systems. Could you share your list with me? Also, add Amherst College to the list!!!

Comment by Josh Graybiel on June 8, 2012 at 11:32am

Freshwater Farm is now cycling in Northern Michigan!

I am a student in the Fisheries Department at Michigan State University. As part of a grant writing class, I wrote a business plan for Aquaponics and submitted it into a sustainability business plan competition sponsored by Loyola University and won. Now the real journey has began.

I have constructed a raceway fish tank with a settling basin. This cycles into a DWC raft grow beds (biofilter). Most of the literature I have says the biofilter should be ready to go (nitrites and nitrates) in about a month. I am doing a fishless cycle and I have added ammonia and ProLine Bacteria and old filters from the Pet Store. It has taken 3 weeks, but I think the nitrites are now spiking.

Freshwater Farm will be culturing Yellow Perch with minnows for feed and selling loose leaf lettuce, lettuce heads, spinach, mint, and basil at farmers markets and restaurants.

My hope is to create a Perma-culture type Aquaponics system by modeling a small ecosystem: YP - Minnows - Zooplankton - Phytoplankton with a profitable filter.

Aquaponics is so cool.

Comment by Steve Vaitl on June 7, 2012 at 8:18am

We are in the very beginning stages of grant researching for establishing a talapia pond, greenhouse and AP system here at Kansas City Kansas Community College. Nearly all of the Biology faculty are on board with support, as is our Dean. I will update as we progress.

Comment by FormulaX on June 6, 2012 at 4:30pm

This group is awesome, I just recently found out that my school has some sort of bio-plant labs.  They hide all the cool stuff from everyone, idk why.  

Comment by Tom Knoll on December 23, 2011 at 8:39am

Hello all, I have had ongoing talks with professors at the U. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who are in the discussion stages of developing an interdisciplinary certificate program for grad. students in Bio-Mathematics focusing on Fluid Dynamic Modeling [between Biological Sciences and Math Sciences].  They contacted me because of my affiliation with Sweet Water originally.  Anyway, they thought the aquaponics process would provide an optimal arena for study because of the myriad variable factors - micronutrients, light, heat, digestive processes, nitrogenous uptake, etc.  I would be interested if any similar academic research is being done anywhere else.  Thanks

Comment by matthew ferrell on June 21, 2011 at 11:24am

Dr Jesse Chappel is studying large scale aquaponics and has a farm currently running a bigger system.  He is located in Swingle Hall at Auburn University.  His grad student Jeremy Pickens is working on a PhD in the field as is another new guy who did his masters under Rakocy.  I am blanking on his name.  They have a large brown water tilipia system and greenhouse on the campus station, and work with a guy named Butch Wilson somewhere out in West Alabama.  It's a big system and worth checking out.

 

Comment by Nate Storey on June 21, 2011 at 9:52am

Hi Elyse,

I'm currently researching aquaponics here at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming.  Besides me and Matthew Ferrell in West Virginia and the small prototype research being conducted at NYU, there's not anyone else actively performing research in this area to my knowledge.

Comment by Elyse Schmitt on June 21, 2011 at 9:03am

I am looking to compile a list of colleges that are researching Aquaponics - this is very difficult to find online because many times Professors do not put all of their research on their websites, so I am turning to communities for help.  If you know of any please send me a message!  Thanks!!

Comment by matthew ferrell on June 21, 2011 at 5:21am

elyse-
I am supposed to also do a tour of the area east of the Mississippi to look at operations.  I would be happy to know from you anything you find that is using cold water in their operations.  Any really cool operations would also be nice to know about.  Please keep us updated on your circuit tour.

Matt