Students learn the growing business of aquaponics inside the Marine Science Center

Students maintain all the plants growing inside UNE's aquaponics lab
Students maintain all the plants growing inside UNE's aquaponics lab

Kale, oregano and basil are just some of the edible plants growing inside UNE’s aquaponics lab located on the ground floor of the Arthur P. Girard Marine Science Center (MSC).

Aquaponics is a way to grow fish and plants at the same time indoors. The fish waste feeds the plants like a fertilizer, and the plants clean the water for the fish in return.

"Aquaponics is a way to produce a lot of food in a small footprint virtually anywhere," Zach Miller-Hope, M.S., assistant director for education at UNE North, told WGME during an interview that recently aired in a news report.

The MSC houses a 600-gallon tank filled with rainbow trout. It is surrounded by about 1,000 different plants.

Students in the Aquaponics Club manage the lab by feeding the fish, tending to the plants and monitoring water quality.

Aubrey Jane (Marine Biology and Medical Biology, ’21) is the president of the club.

"It’s exciting to be involved in the entire process, watching the plants grow from seedlings all the way until you eat them," she commented to WGME.

"One of my favorite things about this system and working with this system is that it connects the students to food,” Miller-Hope said. “They're seeing food growing, and it's a direct result of their efforts."

When the edible plants are mature enough a team of student Eco-Reps from the UNE Sustainability Office moves them to the Living Wall in the Ripich Commons. The plants are eventually harvested from the wall and sold during the Edible Campus Market. Proceeds go to the Aquaponics Club to help support the next round of plantings.

WGME's Dustin Bonk in front of UNE's Living Wall
WGME's Dustin Bonk in front of UNE's Living Wall
Aubrey Jane, president of UNE's Aquaponics Club, being interviewed by WGME's Dustin Bonk
Aubrey Jane, president of UNE's Aquaponics Club, being interviewed by WGME's Dustin Bonk

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.