I have been the Aquaculture Outreach Specialist for the UWSP Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility since 2014. This position is also in collaboration and partnership with The University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute. My primary goal as outreach specialist is to make the research and demonstration happening at the facility usable and understandable to various groups, including the public, students and farmers. My duties that support this goal include conducting tours for the facility, producing educational and technical videos, building social networks and maintaining the facility website, connecting and providing assistance to K-12 schools, providing technical assistance and resources to industry, attending and presenting at conferences, assisting in facility research, and writing whitepaper reports, factsheets, articles and other informational documents.
Before this position, I worked as an Aquaculture Technician for the facility gaining experience and learning best practices for fish husbandry working in incubation, larval and grow-out systems to raise various species. I have prior experience in both outreach and fisheries, working as a project coordinator for the Alliance for the Great Lakes, research assistant for UW-Eau Claire at Gerace Research Center investigating pupfish species, and leading educational programs for various groups.
What I enjoy most about working for the UWSP NADF is the variety. The facility has incredible capabilities to research a number of different fish species, showcasing a diversity of systems, which leads to many different partnerships and a variety of research, demonstration and educational projects.