Leading a class-act in aquaculture
Aquaculture in the Classroom project connects
high school students to real-life experiences and industry professionals.
By Samantha McLeod
SeaWestNews
Connecting today’s
youth to the tomorrow of British Columbia is a passion for Dr. Myron Roth and Pat
Tonn.
Together
they run a class-act called Aquaculture in the Classroom to immerse high school
students in real-life experiences and interact with industry professionals.
“Our
perspective is that maybe students don’t know about growing food… so if we
start from the ground up with basic education then we can give that information
to young students and they can make educated decisions,” said Pat Tonn, executive
director for Agriculture and Aquaculture in the Classroom.
Tonn, a
former school teacher is a veteran of the BC Ministry of Agriculture’s youth
leadership program.
“The
response from the students has been rewarding, they really enjoy the tours and
they do ask a lot of tough questions,” said Dr. Myron Roth, aquaculture and
seafood industry specialist with the Government of British Columbia.
The
Aquaculture in the Classroom project is a collaborative initiative created by
Dr. Roth, with funding by Vancouver Island University, Taplow Feeds, the
Aquaculture Association of Canada, and the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture.
“For example, when we were in Nanaimo we had culinary students, and here today, the students are in resource and environmental stewardship programs,” said Dr. Roth after he and Tonn led a group of Victoria-area high school students to the 2019 Aquaculture Canada Conference last week.
The
excursion included a tour of Metchosin Aquaponics.
“The people
at Metchosin Aquaponics really get it and the kids really associated with that,”
said Dr. Roth.
“The
hatchery manager, today, when the students asked her why she did what she does
her response was…I just love fish!” said Dr. Roth, adding the high school
students relate to these kind of interactions better than learning from scientists
and experts.
“The cool
thing was they started asking questions that weren’t on the questionnaire, so
right off the bat it was quickly obvious that their curiosity was triggered.”
The students were also given a twenty-minute
orientation about B.C.’s Aquaculture industry, and learned how aquaculture and
aquaponics are done around the world.
Angelique
Pichette of Grieg Seafood was also helping guide the students.
“Working with the environment to try and make it better and have little impact to make sure there’s fish in the ocean for everyone,” she told the students when asked what’s the highlight of her career.
The Youth
Development program works in conjunction with 4-H British Columbia to deliver
agriculture and aquaculture education and training to young British Columbians,
ages 6-25.
The 4-H
program has over 2,300 youth members and over 600 volunteer leaders across the
province who participate in hands-on education, leadership and career training
opportunities. The Youth Development program also partners with other
organizations on special projects focused on agriculture and aquaculture education.
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“The
future of protein is here and it’s called aquaculture”