Ohio students and teachers got hands-on with aquaponics and seafood this year through an annual science competition designed to encourage participation in Great Lakes aquaculture.

In the 2026 Aquaculture Challenge, students from around the Midwest in grades 6-12 participated in a four-month venture to build and monitor aquaponics systems, create business plans, and perform community outreach about aquaculture and seafood.

Several teams from Ohio schools participated in the competition, and one walked away with a top prize. The team from Eastern High School in Pike County, Ohio, won the “Most Innovative Design Award” for their aquaponics system.

The Aquaculture Challenge is a collaboration between the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network and Lake Superior State University, supported by Ohio Sea Grant and other Sea Grant programs as state-based liaisons for teams. Since the competition began in 2016, thousands of students from around the Great Lakes region have engaged in STEM learning, developed leadership skills, and explored potential career paths in aquaculture.

“I love this competition because it engages youth with science,” said Elliot Nelson, co-lead of the Aquaculture Challenge and a Michigan Sea Grant extension educator. “The competition is practical, hands-on, and a great way to get students excited about a subject that otherwise might be difficult or intimidating. And if they discover a potential new career pathway, that’s an added bonus.”

A record 48 teams representing about 500 students registered for the 2026 competition. Teams tackled challenges ranging from ice storms to power failures. They built computers, explored vertical growing towers, visited aquaculture facilities, and created coloring books. Their systems housed everything from turtles and spider plants to cucumbers and tilapia, carrots, mint, and strawberries.

“It’s inspiring to see the ingenuity students bring to the challenge and the unique ways educators are incorporating aquaculture to teach everything from food systems to engineering, water quality, and more,” added Nicole Wright, Ohio Sea Grant’s aquaculture extension specialist.

For the challenge, Eastern High School’s team designed and built a recirculating aquaponics system, using a livestock water tank as a fish tank. Students raised tilapia and used waste from the system to grow buttercrunch lettuce. Then, as an outreach project, they served buttercrunch wrapped tilapia tacos to their school board.

“My students learned so much about aquaculture. They learned the best fish to use, what grows best, and how to design an efficient, low-cost system that works.”
Kristen Campbell

“This was an amazing experience that provided my students with a hands-on activity,” said Kristen Campbell, an agriculture education teacher and Future Farmers of America Advisor for Eastern Local School District in Pike County, who led the team. “It combined their critical thinking skills with their knowledge of aquaculture. I loved their enthusiasm in learning.”

Students enjoyed creating the system, monitoring it, developing a business plan, and then producing their own food from what they created, Campbell explained. Prior to the competition, most students didn’t know anything about aquaculture.

“My students learned so much about aquaculture,” she said. “They learned the best fish to use, what grows best, and how to design an efficient, low-cost system that works.”

“It’s important to focus on aquaculture in this way because it’s a great way to grow produce and fish in small spaces,” Campbell added. “Our farmland is limited, and not everyone can grow fresh food. With an aquaponics system, you can grow fresh food year-round in your house or in a small space.”

Today, aquaculture produces more than 50% of the world’s seafood. Fish farming can be a vital and sustainable way to produce seafood, bait fish, and fish for conservation and stocking programs. Notably, the U.S. imports 80% of its seafood consumed, and aquaculture can help fill that gap.

Another team from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Dayton, Ohio, designed and built an aquaponics unit in their school library as a model for practical aquaculture at home. The competition was an excellent way to use project- and problem-based learning in a STEM experience, said urban agriculture teacher John Huston.

“The students gained problem-solving and design experience through active engagement and higher order thinking,” Huston said. “The opportunity to focus on aquaculture in this way makes learning real and brings education to life, and they’ve already identified a problem to solve for next year’s challenge entry.”

The competition is already making a difference in the Great Lakes region. Hundreds of previous participants are now working in STEM fields, with many specifically in aquaculture and aquaponics. Two previous Aquaculture Challenge contestants have even joined Sea Grant program staff.

The growing program is supported by the Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative, a group of Great Lakes Sea Grant staff working together on state and regional aquaculture projects. The program is also supported by the Sea Grant-led Center for Great Lakes Literacy.

To learn more about the Aquaculture Challenge, visit Michigan Sea Grant’s website. Registration for the 2027 competition will open later this year.

Ohio Sea Grant is supported by The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University Extension, and NOAA Sea Grant, a network of 34 Sea Grant programs nation-wide dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources. Stone Laboratory is Ohio State’s island campus on Lake Erie and is the research, education, and outreach facility of Ohio Sea Grant and part of CFAES School of Environment and Natural Resources.