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Aquaculture in the Classroom. Emily Hart & Dr. James Webb Department of Environmental Conservation University of Massachusetts Amherst. Who Are We?. Aquaculture team at UMass Amherst James: small-scale aquaculture to alleviate industry bottlenecks in the developing world
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Aquaculture in the Classroom Emily Hart& Dr. James Webb Department of Environmental Conservation University of Massachusetts Amherst
Who Are We? • Aquaculture team at UMass Amherst • James: small-scale aquaculture to alleviate industry bottlenecks in the developing world • Emily: aquaponics as a teaching tool in science and sustainability education • Main focus is technology transfer to partners with little or no aquaculture background
What is Aquaculture? • Aquaculture is the cultivation of aquatic plants and animals in controlled environments
The Future of Seafood? Yes! Approximately half of seafood is currently farmed
What is Aquaponics? • Aquaponics is aquaculture combined with hydroponics to grow plants and fish together
Aquaculture + Education? • STEM • Sustainability • Business • No Child Left Behind • US technology gap • Environmental awareness • Experiential education
Gaining Momentum • Development of aquaculture education in ‘90s • Focus on agriculture and vocational programs • Sustainability, environmental awareness and school garden programs have renewed AITC • Reaching wider school audience?
Aquaponics: Summer 2012 • Built small aquaponics system at a school in HI • Taught summer course on aquaculture • Chance to put our ideas into practice
Lessons Learned… • Location, location, location • Building and teaching at the same time is hard! • Maintenance and upkeep everyday • Necessary to plug into entire community • Every situation is different need flexibility • Background knowledge extremely helpful • Cost Do expectations match up with reality?
My Thesis Research Aquaponics in Education: Challenges, Successes and Realities • Literature review of aquaponics in education • Instructional strategies for incorporating aquaponics • Link to school garden and sustainability programs • Talk to educators about their experiences • SWOT analysis and how-to framework
Aquaculture in YOUR Classroom? Emily Hart: emilyh@eco.umass.edu