World Water Forum College Grant Program 2011-2013 Grant Proposals
College Pasadena City College
Faculty Erika Catanese, MS
Project #115
Water, Fish and Food: Aquaponic Technology & Community Outreach in Times of Water Scarcity
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City
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Pasadena City College
1570 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91106
Water, Fish and Food: Aquaponic
Technology and Community Outreach
in Times of Water Scarcity
Local
Erika Catanese, MS
Krista Walter, PhD
Richard Johnston, MS
Olivia Zanfardino
Alice Okamura
MWD World Water Forum College Grants 2012 – 2013 Pasadena City College
B. Project Summary Page:
We seek to demonstrate a sustainable means of supplying potable water,
incorporating aquaculture and agriculture while efficiently conserving and
recycling captured water. Water and food quality will be measured using
standardized analyses and food production will be quantified by
pounds/system/month. Students will utilize the aquaponics technology for local
community outreach by conducting workshops in building and maintaining urban
systems that will provide sustainable potable water, fish protein, and produce at
minimal costs. Workshops will take place on campus, at local flea markets and K-12
schools. This project will provide a platform for developing systems that could be
applied globally.
College:
Pasadena City College
1570 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91106
Project Title:
Water, Fish and Food: Aquaponic Technology and Community Outreach in Times
of Water Scarcity
Project Strand:
Local
Faculty:
Erika Catanese, MS
Krista Walter, PhD
Richard Johnston, MS
Student Project Managers:
Olivia Zanfardino
Alice Okamura
MWD World Water Forum College Grants 2012 – 2013 Pasadena City College
C. CONTACT INFORMATION PAGE
1.
College Pasadena City College
Address 1570 E. Colorado Boulevard
City, State, Zip Code Pasadena, CA 91106-2003
Make Check Payable To: Pasadena City College Foundation
2.
Application Strand Check One
LOCAL Project Name X
GLOBAL Project Name
3.
Student Project Manager Olivia Zanfardino
Undergraduate or Graduate Undergraduate
Department Architecture
Cell Phone/Email Address (760)458-4019
4.
Faculty Project Manager Erika Catanese, MS
Title Professor of Biology
Department Natural Sciences Division
Telephone/Email Address (626)840-3658 [email protected]
MWD World Water Forum College Grants 2012 – 2013 Pasadena City College
D. ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND (1-2 pages)
Established in 1924, Pasadena City College (PCC) is a comprehensive, public
two-year community college serving the culturally and economically diverse urban
community of the Pasadena Area Community College District, which has a
population of approximately 391,3005. In Fall 2009, the college enrolled over 29,000
students, including more than 26,000 credit students. More than 70% are
minorities, and 47% are first-generation college students. PCC’s academic
programs encompass 60 program areas and it offers 76 certificate programs in
career and technical education fields.
The mission of the college is successful student learning. PCC seeks to foster
a creative learning environment that is technologically challenging and intellectually
and culturally stimulating, and to offer learning activities designed to improve the
economic condition and quality of life of the diverse communities within the
college’s service area.
The college’s Natural Science Division provides supportive, excellent science
education, where students learn science by direct experience with the methods and
processes of inquiry. Classes are taught to ensure that students learn not only the
important relevant facts, but also the process of science and how to develop their
critical thinking skills. Courses are offered in 13 basic science disciplines and
multiple certificate programs.
A current focus of the Natural Sciences Division is to expand and enhance
Interdisciplinary Field Science programs in Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics. The field science faculty team has a wide diversity of expertise from
disciplines that include Geology, Biology, Environmental Studies, English and Math.
The premier Interdisciplinary field science offerings have been/are the Baja Science
Program (Biology & Geology), Steinbeck Expedition (English & Biology), Project
Pele in Hawaii (Environmental Science & Geology), Costa Rica (Biology &
Chemistry), all of which are rigorous curriculum designed around the philosophy
that students learn best by experiencing and doing science rather than just reading
and hearing about it. Students in these programs learn by both traditional methods
and field projects in an active learning environment. The programs have been
successful over multiple years and have great reputations. Many of the PCC
students who have gone through some of these programs have subsequently
completed independent research, two projects funded by the MWD WWF, as well as
have presented and won awards at the Southern California Academy of Sciences.
The Division also has been adding and modifying courses to enhance future
interdisciplinary programs in the field sciences and on-campus programs. Through
a grant from The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation and Foundation Mini-Grants, the
college has established a suite of technology that supports investigative learning.
The college has most recently acquired an NSF grant for STEM Environmental
Studies programs to be developed to recruit underrepresented students from our
local high schools.
The project outlined in this proposal will not be the college’s first effort to
contribute to water conservation research through MWD’s College Grants
Program. In 2005, a PCC project team began creating an artificial wetland that
could be used to filter a broad range of water pollutants. The MWD-funded effort
produced remarkable results. Several students went on to present their ideas from
this research to the World Water Forum in Mexico City in 2006. In 2009, another
MWD-funded project enabled a large team of students to culture native plants and
test their abilities to bioremediate contaminated water.
Management of the funds for the proposed project will be provided by The
Pasadena City College Foundation. The Foundation was incorporated in 1979 as a
501(c)(3) non-profit, charitable, public-benefit foundation to bridge the gap between
the needs and resources of Pasadena City College. The Foundation’s mission is to
obtain private funding (from individuals, corporations, and local foundations) for
PCC programs, facilities, equipment, faculty and students, and to assist the college
in serving the community of which it is a part. The Foundation also manages (at no
fee) grants and donations from private funding sources.
MWD World Water Forum College Grants 2012 – 2013 Pasadena City College
E. Project Description (7-10 pages)
Which water-related issue or challenge have you selected?
Water Scarcity in Southern California
Project Title: Water, Fish and Food: Aquaponic Technology and
Community Outreach in Times of Water Scarcity
Our goal is to enable our local community to gain knowledge and experience
in rain harvesting and aquaponic technology, while maintaining potable water and
food security at a time where our fresh water supplies are at great risk. This
approach will grant equitable access to clean water supplies while reducing import
demands, and use “cradle-to-cradle” methodology to sustain water and food
security.
Problem:
In November of 2011, our global human population reached 7 billion people.
As our global numbers continue to rise, there is greater demand on our water
supplies, especially because our populations are trending toward urban living. More
people than any time in our history now live in slum conditions globally, while in
Southern California our cities become more over-crowded. This urbanization
creates a public that is more dependent on imported water and food, while also
increasing polluted runoff to our limited natural areas. Many of our wells have
become contaminated from urban and industrial runoff. In addition, increased
water imports over the years have caused great stress on the river deltas that would
otherwise be fed if our large population were not extracting from their flow.
Our species is currently experiencing the 6th
mass extinction on this planet,
primarily due to human activities. Maintaining biodiversity is essential to human
quality of life and our urban landscapes have seen great losses. Local stream and air
qualities are poor. Ecosystem services have been lost and our population has
MWD World Water Forum College Grants 2012 – 2013 Pasadena City College
experienced a disconnection from the wisdom that nature provides. For example,
until the California Rainwater Capture Act of 2011 (AB275) was passed, our local
population was not even permitted to harvest rain that fell on their property,
thereby making completely dependent on imported water and causing great
concentrations of pollutants flowing to our streams, rivers and oceans through
runoff.
Solution:
Based upon our literary search and first hand experiences, our project team
members propose that an integrated approach to reducing imported water demand
is necessary. Our approach will reduce runoff contamination of our watersheds,
reduce import demand through rain harvesting, and create community stewardship
of our environment while increasing water and food equity and security.
Our integrated approach is based on Life Cycle Analysis where we create an
industrial/urban ecological system that minimizes resource inputs/outputs,
maximizing efficiency. It is a cradle-to-cradle approach that creates zero (to
minimal) waste, and through our Communication Strategy will empower our
community members to act locally and become stewards of their environment.
The following outlines our team’s multi-step approach:
1. We will establish a rain harvesting system that is both affordable and
easy for the average citizen to assemble using mostly, if not entirely,
recycled materials. These rain-harvesting systems will collect the water
that will be used in the aquaponic systems to be established.
2. We will develop vermiculture bins to build our stock of red wriggler
worms. These worms will eat organic matter, producing casting that are
nutrient rich and will be used as seed growth media.
The worms will become feedstock for the fish in
aquaculture, while the produce waste and potential fish losses also
become food for the worms.
3. We will build our commercial sized aquaponic in situ demonstration
system and micro-system. These will include multiple tanks, plumbing
materials, electrical pumps, growth media (volcanic cinders).
4. We will set up our canopies and solar panels to protect and support our
aquaponic systems.
5. We will introduce our Tilapia fish and plants to our systems once our
team members have calculated all of the pump rates. Our team will be
closely monitoring the systems and recording observations.
6. We will develop the Communications Strategy. Our team will create
banners, posters, informational pamphlets, slide shows and consumables
to be used at the workshops they will design to teach their peers on
campus, community members attending our monthly PCC Flea Market,
and local K-12 schools that we partner with through student outreach.
We already have a partnership with Arcadia High School, as their AP
Environmental Science Teacher is on our team. In addition, our team will
develop surveys to be given at the beginning of their workshops and at
the end of the workshops so that we may gather quantitative data about
our community and the value of our workshops.
7. Finally, we will start conducting community workshops to teach about
the value of water and how anybody can take part in being a steward of
their water and food resources.
Is it a local or global focus per the RFP guidelines?
Local
Which content strand (technology, policy or communications) have you chosen as the research focus for creating your project? Communications Our team’s development of aquaponic systems, utilizing rain harvesting
and vermicomposting in urban ecological models, will convey essential
water-wise information to the average water consumer that goes well
beyond fixing leaky faucets and low-flow shower heads or toilets. Our
ecosystems approach will educate local citizens by increasing awareness
and knowledge of a sustainable system that will improve equitable access
to fresh water and food resources, while promoting water conservation and
increased water use efficiency. We plan to educate large populations in the
Pasadena area. Our college currently registers over 29,000 students per
semester and our monthly Flea Market brings thousands more community
members flocking to the approximate 450 vendors. There is great
MWD World Water Forum College Grants 2012 – 2013 Pasadena City College
potential for conveying our water conserving micro-aquaponic systems to
a large body of people. In addition, our college is working towards a more
sustainable future and our student body has a growing number of students
interested in localism and permaculture. Our team anticipates capitalizing
on this trend and recruiting a large team to be able to education large
numbers of community
members. For example, Erika Catanese is Co-Advisor for our sustainability
club, called Seeds of Change, and has facilitated the implementing of
Permaculture Learning & Teaching gardens on campus.
Where will the research and data collection take place?
Pasadena City College (on campus during working hours and during
our monthly community Flea Market) and at local K-12 Schools.
Project Team Members will have access to our Aquaponic Systems for
regular monitoring, maintenance, feedings and food harvesting. Team
members will regularly meet to plan and implement community workshop
events, whether they be on campus at our commercial sized demonstration
aquaponic system, at on-campus events, including monthly flea markets
attracting thousands of visitors from our local communities, or traveling to
local K-12 schools. One of our team members is a local high school teacher
and we plan to teach her Environmental Science classes how to build and
maintain their own system that they can use for community outreach at
their school. Our students will regularly go to their school to check in on
the student learning and system.
What is the anticipated outcome of your research? An outcome may be short-term (i.e., changes in knowledge or attitude) or long-term (i.e., changes in condition of natural resources). We have short-term goals of engaging our community in alternative
means of acquiring potable water and food, thereby, creating long-term
paradigm shifts in the public’s civic role in sustainably acquiring water and
food, reducing import demands. We hope to successfully demonstrate this
locally, so that it may be a model for National and International paradigm
shifts in the acquisition of resources.
Estimate of the Project Projection Benefits (specific benefit(s) is selected from
the Quantitative Benefits chart on page 10 of this RFP). PERFORMANCE MEASURE QUANTITATIVE OUTCOME LOCAL/GLOBAL IMPACT
Makes More Water Available Research indicates a 98% agricultural savings of potable water
Local
Reduces Per Capita Use Local
Provides Technical Training 3000 People, Potentially many more
Local
Provides Water Conservation and/or Hygiene/Public Health Education
10,000 People and Students Local
Improves Equitable Access to fresh drinking water and/or sanitation practices
Millions based on lower import demands
Local
Improves the environment and sustainability benefits for people
Millions based on lower import demands or both water and food
Local
Describe your team’s experience and technical capabilities (including in-house
and/or outside hired individuals) to accomplish the project. List the roles and responsibilities of each team member. Erika Catanese, MS – Biology Professor – Ecology & Environmental Science Erika Catanese has been a member of the college’s Natural Science Division faculty since 2005. She is the lead instructor for Environmental Science and Field Biology courses. She regularly engages students in Independent Research projects in Coastal Sage Scrub habitat, arthropod diversity, bioremediation and sea turtle surveys. She has received multiple PCC Foundation grants over her tenure, enabling to purchase of multiple technologies. She was the advisor on the MWD grant awarded in 2008-2009 that studied the water bioremediation capacity of several native species
from our local watershed. She and Krista Walter will share responsibilities, if PCC receives this year’s MWD grant, in Advising and Facilitating Student Learning and Outreach. Her ecological background will aid in the functioning of the micro-ecosystems our team will create. She and Krista will play administrative roles in taking responsibility for grant paper work and protocols in concert with our college grant coordinator. Krista Walter, PhD – English Professor – Environmental Studies Krista Walter has been a member of the college’s English Division faculty since 1995. She teaches environmental studies in her composition and writing courses, all of which incorporate a community service or service learning component, and she regularly engages students in Field English trips, applying what they have read and discussed. She has taught many semesters of English directly in the Hahamongna Watershed Park in Pasadena, many of which were a Team Teaching Approach with Erika Catanese. Joan Stevens, MS – Environment Science Teacher & Permaculture Designer Joan Stevens has an MS in Biology, multiple certificates in Permaculture Design and Yoga. She has been teaching at Arcadia High School for since 2000, and has been the recipient of multiple Foundation Grants that have enabled her to develop an interactive teaching & learning garden on the Arcadia campus. She regularly teaches workshops in Permaculture all over Southern California. She is a Master Gardner in addition to a Leader in anything she gets excited about. She will organize with our team for multiple visits to her classes to develop a plan for our students to teach hers about the advantages and strategies of Aquaponics. She will then guide her Environmental Science students in the maintenance of the system our team will teach them to create in between our team visits. Richard Johnston, MS – Bioinformatics Professor & Technology Expert Richard Johnston is an expert in various technologies, particularly
computers, monitoring equipment, and cameras. He will teach our team
any statistics that they will need to know for quantifying data from
this project, assist in creating and maintaining the aquaponic
monitoring system, and will document our progress through photography.
He regularly attends Krista Walter’s and Erika Catanese’s class field
trips.
Olivia Zanfardino – Student Manager – Architecture & Aquaponics Student Olivia Zanfardino has years of experience as a volunteer, student and traveler. She has spent a year at Arcosanti in Arizona, where she studied the fusion of architecture with ecology. She developed an interest in
Aquaponics and has since volunteered on an organic farm in Hawaii. She has the most practical experience of our team in this practice and has the capacity to excite others about the incredible potential for equity of resources among people locally and globally. Her role will be to teach her peers everything she has already learned about building and maintaining aquaponic systems. Alice Okamura, BS – Student – Urban Planning & Resource Management Alice Okamura has taken several science classes not because she needed them for her major, but simply because she has an interest in the outdoors and sustainability. She has also participated in two Independent Research projects with Erika Catanese, one in which she studied biodiversity of our local watershed in disturbed compared to intact habitat and the other which was funded by our previous MWD WWF grant. Now that she has her degree, she has taken multiple GIS courses and grant writing workshops. Her role will be to map the locations of all our workshops and established aquaponic systems, delegate roles to future team members, as she has experience in this from our last grant, and assist Erika and Krista with administrative workings of the grant. Adrienne Ng, BA, AICP – Assistant Regional Planner, County of Los Angeles
Adrienne Ng is a professional urban planner and part-time student.
She has worked on Los Angeles County’s Green Building Program and has
experience designing and implementing projects and working with the
public. She has a skill in predicting potential road blocks and is
quick to come up with solutions.
Her role will be to guide us through our planning stages, assist us
with the public domain, and public outreach. Because of her knowledge
of the Los Angeles region, she will also be a resource for our team to
acquire supplies and assistance as needed.
Provide a project schedule with key milestone dates and deliverables with measurable outcomes.
June 2012 – Purchase all Supplies and Team Training
July 2012 – Build Aquaponic Systems with Pumps Running
August 2012 – Initiate Fish Ponds & Seedlings
September 2012 – Monitor Growth, Students Develop Community Workshop
Protocols
October 2012 – First Harvest Measurements which will continue through the
project
November 2012 – March 2013 – Initiate & Continue Community Education
Workshops
March 2013 – Write Draft of Outcomes & develop Power Point Presentation
April 2013 – Refine Draft and Present Power Point Presentation to Students,
Faculty & Community
May 2013 – Final Draft of Outcomes and Future Projections Presentation at World
Water Forum Spring Expo and another appropriate professional
conference
17. FINANCIAL CRITERIA & BUDGET BREAKDOWN
FINANCIAL CRITERIA
The budget for this project is $12,500. We are requesting $10,000 in grant funds from MWD.
Matching funds of $2,500 are provided by other grant projects and the Natural Sciences
Division funds. The project team anticipates raising additional funds post final presentation to
MWD to keep the project running as an Educational Demonstration Sustainable Micro-Farm
at PCC for the student body and community members via the successful harvests and
donations from the community and/or on-campus food services.
DESCRIPTION AMOUNT NOTES
GRANT FUNDS
REQUESTED $10,000 Includes equipment,
supplies, conference
registration, and
dissemination
ADDITIONAL SOURCE
OF FUNDS $2500 Includes match for the
following budget items:
$1000 for printing
pamphlets/posters/media
for community awareness
campaign; $300 for
volcanic cinders & tubing;
$500 for containers; $500
for pumps; $200 fish feed
start up
PROJECT TOTAL $12,500
BUDGET BREAKDOWN
LINE ITEM AMOUNT DESCRIPTION
STIPENDS $1000 Outstanding Student
Workers Dedicated from
Start to Final Presentation
($250 each x 4)
LAB FEES $2000 Multiple (Replicated)
Commercial Laboratory
Analyses of Produce
Nutrient Content ($1000)
and Water Potability of
Effluents ($1000)
OFFICE SUPPLIES $1000 Production of Public
Relations Banners/Posters
($400) and Consumable
Pamphlets/Media and
Workshop Materials
($600)
CONSULTANT $375 Aquaponics Specialist
($75/hr x 5 hours)
CONFERENCE
REGISTRATION $2000 Production of Posters and
Media for Student Team
Presentations to at least
one Professional
Conference
EQUIPMENT $6125 Solar Power ($600),
Canopies ($1000), Tanks,
Volcanic Cinders &
Tubing ($3000), Pumps
($900), Vermiculture Bins
($300), Fish Fingerlings
and Seed ($325)
TOTAL $12,500
