Working with Aquaponics

How I Got into Aquaponics

I had just graduated from SciTech High School in June 2015. I secured my first summer job for a position at a greenhouse.

It was a newly built structure behind the Steelton Highspire High School. I applied for this job through my sister’s connections.

It was a six-week long program run by School to Table, a program that provides  STEM knowledge to students.

I would be stationed in the greenhouse to help maintain their newest technology, Aquaponics.

The first Aquaponics system was established in Marshall Math/Science Academy where my sister attends.

She was one of the selected students to be part of her school’s Aquaponics team.

I wanted to give it a shot since it was something my sister was involved in and it piqued my science interest.

I heard of hydroponics, which is the process of growing plants in water without soil.

However, Aquaponics is different in terms of utilizing fish to provide nutrients to plants and using water at the same time.

I found it fascinating and odd. How could fish help plants grow?

First Day at the Greenhouse

I found my answer on my first day at the job. No one gave me the heads up to dress down.

I arrived at the front school entrance dressed in a white blouse, black dress pants, and black flats.

I pressed the call button and the office told me to go the back of the school. I was confused because I thought I would be working inside the school as my sister. I took the shortcut down a small hill that led to the back.

Wet mud stained my flats and I found myself stumbling on the dirt while heading toward the greenhouse.

I was taken aback by the greenhouse’s large size. My high school was small compared to this. The greenhouse stretched quite long.

Huge fans propelled and vibrated the ground like an earthquake.

I was greeted by Jodi Foster, my supervisor. She was casually dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. And did I mention it was scorching hot that day?

I should have changed into more comfortable clothes, but I wanted to be presentable.

 

Inside the Greenhouse

Jodi led me inside. The first rule of the greenhouse was to close the first door before opening the second door that led into the actual greenhouse itself. This was to prevent contamination with the outside, like pests.

Before opening the second door, you had to wash your hands so you would not contaminate the plants.

I could hardly hear myself think with the two large fans at the front that kept the greenhouse cooled down during a hot day.

My eyes were drawn to the lettuce sitting in the long, white gutters called NFT (). NFT are effective for growing microgreens.

You couldn’t miss the large, blue fish tanks in the center of it all. There was a window built into the fish tank so you could see inside.

Big Tilapia fish were swimming around. It looked really crowded in there. A magnet scrubber was on the window for cleaning the green algae off the window.

Jodi introduced me to the team. Two college students from Messiah College were overseeing the entire program. Along with a selected few high school students from Steelton-Highspire.

I was shy at first. However, I have gotten to know really interesting people during the program.

Most of them used this summer break to gain more experience in the STEM field. Others wanted to make their resume stand out.

Whatever the case, we all had fun doing something that was new and beneficial to the community.