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TCC Students Fishing for a Sustainable Farming System

Matt Trotter
/
KWGS

Tulsa Community College students move ahead on a sustainability project that caught national attention.

They added 30 tilapia to an aquaponic system selected as a finalist in the National Science Foundation’s Community College Innovation Challenge.

"The fish waste they produce fertilizes the plant beds. Microbes in the soil break the fish waste down into something that can be absorbed by the plants," said electrical engineering student Dallas Ellerman. "The plants absorb those nutrients, clean the water. It's a sustainable, symbiotic system like you'd find in nature."

The system is scalable, uses less water than traditional agriculture and can easily be made organic. But the group’s primary goal is using it in a mentorship program to lure local kids to science, technology, engineering and math.

"Many students just end up, out of habit, waiting around for somebody to tell them what questions to answer instead of asking their own questions," Elleman said. "We want to give students the opportunity to ask their own questions and learn about what they want to learn and capture their imagination."

The system is currently growing mint. Spinach and tomatoes will be added this fall. The ultimate goal, however, is bigger than growing vegetables and even getting students interested in STEM fields.

"We'd like to use this research project as an opportunity to start a business that helps out disadvantaged segments of the population — females and minorities — to get started on a lifelong career path in science and engineering," Elleman said.

The TCC students want to use inexpensive electronics and sensors to automate the system and teach computer science.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.