Author: Forrest Wynne
Major Program: Aquaculture
A new channel catfish farmer in Hickman Co. has been mentored for the past 14 months. His fingerling catfish were stocked into 25 acres of ponds during May of 2021. Thousands of fish are stocked per acre in a multiple batch harvesting scenario where 1.0 -1.5 lb. fish are removed by cull seining and sold to live fish haulers for fee fishing operations or small-scale fish processers. It takes 12 to 18 months for channel catfish to grow from 6-inch-long fingerlings to harvest size. &nbs
Author: Jeffrey Warner
I gave a presentation for the Aquaculture Third Thursday Thing on May 19th 2022. there were 15 people attended. my presentation was on Tilapia spawning and hatchery management.
I donated fish to Local Farmers in Turner Station and London KY. This fish are apart of the Tilapia capacity building grant that is under Dr. Noel Novelo.
June 15th 2022, A group of (about 30) students toured the aquaculture facility for 2 hours, during which, I lead a group dissection of Koi, Tilapia, and Hybrid Stripped Bass. I had help from some coworkers like Janelle Hager, Leo Fleckensein, Jasmine Ingels, Kasandra Miller, and some grad students. The Kids got to learn external and internal anatomy of the fish.
Author: Janelle Hager
Aquaponic farms that decide to grow entirely indoors with no natural sunlight have a large list of lighting technologies to choose from. Over the last decade, research led by Dr. Jim Tidwell at Kentucky State University (KSU) has evaluated different lighting technologies for use in indoor aquaponic farms. Initial research conducted by Charlie Schultz and Luke Oliver on lettuce, basil, pak choi, and kale showed that LED lights were better than induction, fluorescent, and metal halides in term of
On January 31st, 2022, I and an Aquaculture Grad Student (Jasmine Iniguez), delivered donated Super-male Tilapia (YY sex chromosomes), in effort to work with Flying Fish Lakes,(Owned by David Lazar and Jimmy is the manager) to get valuable data. These tilapia will be used as brood stock for their tilapia production. In return Flying Fish Lakes will give us useful marketing data on the offspring produced. Data like weight, length, age, number produced, sex ratio, and marketing price when so
Author: William Crawford
As a member of the Kentucky State University (KYSU) State Aquaculture Team, I am tasked with educating stakeholders on the production of fish and plants in enclosed recirculating systems. Work in the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics led me to plan with colleagues Chelsea Walling and Brandon Preece to deliver a virtual workshop that focused on aquaponics applications in educational settings. Presenting live on August 12, recorded versions of our two presentations, and subsequent questio
Author: Ken Thompson
This program explored the impact of an active aquaculture project-based learning program, as perceived by high school students. The purpose of this case study was to discover if participation in the program influenced students’ interest, engagement, and future educational and career aspirations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) when integrating aquaculture in, and outside, the classroom. Likewise, the study also wanted to explore students’ knowledge abo
Author: John Kelso
Members of the home owners association near Lochmere Pond, Lexington, KY, requested educated opinions from Kentucky State University concerning a diminishing pond on the property. John Kelso, Extension/Research Assistant visited this property in June 2021 to determine the best course of action. During a meeting with members of the community including Dr, Aaron Thompson it was presented that the condition of the pond was in need of repairs for any significant change in land use.  
There is a need for secondary schools to provide more authentic, hands-on experiences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and specifically, more project-based investigation (PBI) environments in the classroom that manifest the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) following practices they prescribe. This program investigated how, and to what extent, a contextualized aquaponics PBI (APBI) 10-week model unit affected high school students’ attitudes toward ST
