As California struggles with drought and waterways polluted by farm runoff, a class at Cal Poly Pomona is looking for ways to help.

Led by Assistant Professor Maryam Shafahi from the mechanical engineering department, the team is researching aquaponics — a sustainable food production technology that combines aquaculture (fish cultivation) and hydroponics (water-based planting) to grow fish and plants together in a symbiotic environment.

“Aquaponics is a closed circle between fish and plants, using fish waste to feed the plants, so you don’t need any chemical fertilizer for the system, and there is no water wasted,” Shafahi says.

To demonstrate the potential of aquaponics, Shafahi and her students built a system at the university’s Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies. The setup grows about 250 heads of lettuce and 15 tilapia fish in two large 200-gallon tanks.