After nine months raising tilapia at the University of Maryland’s aquaponics facility, Emily Shepherd is ready to see the fish on plates at the dining halls.
The senior agricultural science and technology major is among a group of students and faculty researchers working to raise tilapia and other produce to serve on campus. The group harvested the fish on Wednesday, the second such harvest in the past month.
“It’s really important to be involved in the process, know where your food comes from, know what it took to make your food,” Shepherd said. “I feel like we’re really losing sight of where our food comes from.”
The program is a collaboration between Dining Services and the agriculture and natural resources college.
Senior agricultural science and technology major Emily Shepherd harvests bok choy at the Research Greenhouse Complex on Sept. 9, 2026. (Sam Cohen/The Diamondback)
Aquaponics is a system combining aquaculture, the controlled farming of fish and other aquatic creatures, and hydroponics, growing plants with nutrient solutions but no soil, according to the project’s lead researcher Jose-Luis Izursa. The facility, located in the on-campus research greenhouse, houses six 210-gallon tanks that contain the tilapia alongside beds of greens and produce.
[Prince George’s County joins coalition in lawsuit against USDA reorganization plan]
The system is a cycle: the tilapia fish waste feeds the plants, and the plants clean the water for the fish. The tanks are placed below a floating bed of plants, with piping running throughout to transport the nutrients and keep each organism alive.
Each tank has a grate above it where researchers drop food and other nutrients through to the tilapia for easy access.
A tank with tilapia at the Research Greenhouse Complex on Sept. 9, 2026. (Sam Cohen/The Diamondback)
Tilapia swim in a tank at the Research Greenhouse Complex on Sept. 9, 2026. (Sam Cohen/The Diamondback)
The agriculture and natural resources college began the tilapia harvesting operation in 2017 as a classroom demonstration. Now, it occupies a greenhouse facility worth about $200,000, according to the university. Students participate in other hands-on agricultural research using the facility, in addition to raising the tilapia fish and growing greens.
Izursa, a senior lecturer in the agriculture and natural resources college, has been running the aquaponics operation since its origin nearly a decade ago. Izursa told Maryland Today in a 2024 article that he began with just two 50-gallon barrels and a few dozen fish until he was granted a lab and ultimately, the aquaponics facility.
“It just grew by itself, got into momentum where too many students were interested,” Izursa said. “We started doing research, we started having graduate students doing their theses and their dissertations, and I think from there just we grew bigger.”
According to his university biography page, Izursa’s research centers on multi-trophic systems for sustainable food production – different organisms depending on each other for survival – to support campus sustainability.
[UMD’s SGA has no legislators. Here’s how it’s operating.]
The Maryland Certified Local Farm and Fish Program mandates all state agencies, including four-year public universities, to purchase about 20 percent of their food from a list of certified local farmers. Dining Services sustainability manager Anya Pforzheimer said the aquaponics system allows the university to reach the mandate because of its ability to cultivate two products at once.
“Pretty regularly we’re growing a lot of stuff that does not grow in Maryland year-round, other than if it’s in these conditions,” Pforzheimer said. “It’s really great for our push for local.”
She added that Dining Services and the agriculture and natural resources college work closely with ProFish, a local seafood collection and delivery company, to harvest the tilapia. ProFish is responsible for bringing all seafood to this university’s dining halls, using a local processing facility to transform the fish into fresh filets.
Researchers and ProFish employees harvest tilapia at the Research Greenhouse Complex on Sept. 9, 2026. (Sam Cohen/The Diamondback)
People harvest tilapia at the Research Greenhouse Complex on Sept. 9, 2026. (Sam Cohen/The Diamondback)
Campus community members can expect the harvested tilapia to be served in campus dining halls as soon as Friday, Pforzheimer said.
According to Izursa, the aquaponics operation is beneficial not only for students, but for everyone at the university.
“We are giving the students means to have hands-on experience on how to produce food,” Izursa said. “How to raise fish, how to grow plants, and how to maintain systems that may be the answer for the future.”
Lead researcher for aquaponics Jose-Luis Izursa explains aquaponics at the Research Greenhouse Complex on Sept. 9, 2026. (Sam Cohen/The Diamondback)
Contact junior staff writer Ethan Dean at ejdean11@terpmail.umd.edu.
Dining and Cooking