February 24
US (AZ): Aquaculture and vertical farming at University of Arizona
At 4:15 PM, Dr. Kevin Fitzsimmons (Professor ABE, SWES and CEAC Faculty) will give his presentation entitled “Technological Advances, Trends and Challenges in Aquaculture”.
Twice President (World and US Aquaculture Societies), Fulbright Scholar, Editorial Board member (Fisheries Science), multi department Professor and Scientist, world traveler and teacher—just a few of Fitzsimmons' talents and achievements which have catapulted him to become a world leader in aquaculture systems and food production.
Fitzsimmons is fond of explaining that when you connect a fish tank with a lettuce raft, you get "Better Science, Better Fish, Better Life". These are the scientific and humanitarian principles on which Dr. Fitzsimmons' career is based. He came to that conclusion based on his extensive work which is based on the science of symbiosis between fish and plants whether in natural or constructed environments (e.g. aquaponics).
Fitzsimmons, who is an acclaimed international expert in this area of agriculture, likes to point out that aquaculture has a long history "From the Pharaohs to the Future", and that he is most active in the latter aspect of the science. Dr. Fitzsimmons has applied his knowledge and passion in the amazing spectrum of aquaculture ranging from shrimp production, to tilapia culture, seaweed production, water purification, algae control, and onto the biology of native fish. And, he has done so across the USA, in Thailand, the Philippines, China, Malaysia, Honduras, Mexico, Myanmar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the list keeps growing. No wonder that Fitzsimmons also carries the title of Director of International Programs at CALS thus bolstering the recognition and outreach of the University of Arizona worldwide.
In his presentation, Kevin will discuss recent developments and future trends in how novel aquaculture technologies are taking a central role in food production especially in developing countries.
At 4:45 PM, Dr. Joel Cuello (Professor ABE, CEAC Faculty) will take the stage and deliver his presentation entitled “Minimally Structured, Modular, Prefabricated Vertical Farm Designs 2.0”.
He doesn't like walls, hunger or intolerance. He likes creativity, travel, communicating, learning, imagination, feeding the world, thinking about clean water! In short, Professor Cuello is a renaissance man. Joel Cuello has dedicated his career to finding ways to solve existential world problems before they become irreversible: food production and security, water purification, energy and environmental sustainability, eradication of thirst and hunger, and the fostering of cross cultural understanding.
These are lofty, complex, and at first glance such enormous problems that one would think them to be unsolvable. But, Cuello is a pragmatist—he is after all an engineer. And so, he is addressing these issues bit by bit, corner by corner, eventually producing a mosaic of solutions. Energy conservation? Algae; Hunger mitigation? Bioproduction systems. Sustainability? Recycling of water, nutrients, and the usage of novel lighting sources to sustain plant growth in controlled environments. Environmental degradation? Designing self-contained, portable environments for food production on earth and in Space. Needing creative minds to solve future engineering challenges? Teaching and fostering developing minds internationally.
These are some of the things that Joel Cuello has spent doing during his career, and he will share his focused vision and engineering solutions to vertical farm designs as a solution to the impending, global food shortages.
For more information:
ceac.arizona.edu/ceac-seminar-series