The UWSP NADF marks 20 years this year, as a research leader and trusted industry resource.The UW-Stevens Point facility is one-of-a-kind in the Midwest and joins only a handful in the nation that offer similar capabilities in aquaculture research, demonstration and education. 

A collaboration between the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network and Lake Superior State University, the Aquaculture Challenge is an annual science competition that engages students in grades 6-12 from around the Midwest in a four-month venture to build and monitor aquaponics systems, which grow both plants and fish. Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Emma Hauser, who is also an aquaculture outreach and education specialist at the UWSP NADF, mentored 10 Wisconsin teams in 2026. 

Due to funding from the Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative, students from Alverno College in Milwaukee, had the opportunity to build their skills in fish farming. The students, who raise yellow perch and a variety of plants in an aquaponics system on campus, teamed up with the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility (UWSP NADF) to boost their knowledge and tour other aquaculture operations in northern Wisconsin.

Thanks to funding from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, a dozen undergraduate students were placed at fish farms and facilities around Bayfield, Madison and Milwaukee to support aquaculture workforce development. In the video, the interns share their experiences and skills they have learned throughout the summer. 

Wisconsin Outreach Specialists, Sharon Moen, Emma Hauser and Dong-Fang Deng are partnering on a project to build awareness of fish farming and boost training opportunities for young people. The project, funded by the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, is a step towards developing an aquaculture workforce in the state.

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of stocking density on the early growth performance and survival of intensively reared Walleye by stocking fry at different densities in a replicated, indoor larviculture system. Free access of this article is available. 

Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) enables water reusage of over 90% as well as concentration of waste products. Kevin Sowers, Associate Director for University of Maryland Baltimore County Institute of Marine & Environmental Technology shares current research to effectively manage and utilize waste to produce energy in a recirculating aquaculture system. This research is part of a 17-objective project called Sustainable Aquaculture Systems: Supporting Atlantic Salmon (SAS2) funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. 

The book illustrates different species raised in Wisconsin, such as walleye, yellow perch, Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout and tilapia, and provides overviews of the aquaculture systems used to raise them. Kids can then take the fish stickers and, in subsequent pages, “stock” them into the aquaculture systems that best suit the fish. Read the article and order a coloring book online!

Hauser, who works at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility, was recently voted Extension/Outreach Extraordinaire by the Aquaculture Information Exchange community. The award celebrates aquaculture professionals who have gone above and beyond to serve those in the industry.