Outreach

Aquaponics in regional high schools, 2023-2025

We have provided aquaponics systems to four rural Alabama High Schools to participate in our NSF research project. The students and teachers are running the same experimental systems that we are running at Auburn University to understand how the systems perform in the hands of novice users.

 

Women in Engineering Camp, 2017

Young engineers are tasked with constructing a photobioreactor to grow algae. The students were supplied with a basket of simple parts and everyday object and used ingenuity to develop a bioreactor that could support algae growth for 1 week. As part of this activity, the students learned 1) the importance and potential of algae in the broader bio-economy and 2) the complimentary metabolism of algae and yeast. Many groups attempted to use baker's yeast as a CO₂ source for their algae.