Office of Sustainability

The Marine Resources Management Major in the College of Agriculture emphases the intersections of biology, ecology, and engineering of healthy life below water as well as the sustainable management of aquatic resources. The degree leaves students well versed in the management of aquatic resources as well as the conservation of oceans, wetlands, and marshes. Participants also complete a series of off-campus marine science classes. Post graduation, students pursue careers in marine farming, environmental law, and wetlands conservation and management. Students work in collaboration with one of the country’s most renowned fisheries facilities, the Center for Aquatic Resource Management.

The Tropical Veterinary Science and the Great Barrier Reef is a seventeen-day immersion program based in Townsville, Australia. Offered by the College of Veterinary Medicine and open to all majors, the immersion program examines native marine and terrestrial flora and fauna and how climate change and the economy alter populations. Running most recently in Summer 2019, the Tropical Veterinary Science and the Great Barrier Reef allows students to partake in programs and studies on environmental health and resiliency with particular emphasis on how to optimize reef health in the Anthropocene.

The Marine Biology Major, housed in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, serves to provide expert training for its students and covers a full range of topics including coral reefs, coastal marshes, the Everglades, marine pollution, chemical and coastal wetlands ecology, and climate change. Students in the program act as ambassadors and have participated in educational opportunities to explain the importance of marine systems, the impact of plastics in the environment, the ongoing impacts of generalized global pollution on coastal regions, and the impact of plastics and fossil fuels on the atmosphere, oceans, climate, and humans. The program provides experiential learning and research opportunities that empower students to protect the world’s oceans.

Alabama Water Watch (AWW), part of Auburn University Water Resource Center, is a citizen volunteer water quality monitoring program covering all of the major river basins of the state. The mission of AWW is to improve both water quality and water policy through citizen monitoring and action. AWW uses EPA-approved monitoring plans with a community-based approach to train citizens to monitor conditions and trends of their local waterbodies. AWW helps volunteers collect, analyze, and understand their data to make positive impacts. The AWW vision is to have a citizen monitor on every stream, river, lake, and coast in Alabama. AWW aims to foster the development of statewide water quality monitoring by educating, training, and empowering citizens.

Dr. Dennis DeVries is the Assistant Director for Research Programs within the School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, & Aquatic Sciences of the College of Agriculture. Dr. DeVries work focuses on inefficiencies in applied management of aquatic resources. Working at the intersections of ecology, fisheries, and natural resource management, Dr. DeVries studies the complex interactions between species and community structures, as well as the use of ecological principles to achieve restoration of rare and endangered species. Particularly, Dr. DeVries focuses on how to improve threatened and endangered species harmed by the development of dams.

College of Agriculture’s Shamim Naigaga, under the direction of Dr. Claude Boyd, explored aquaculture in Uganda in her dissertation, “Potential Influence of Climate Variations, Water Quality and Soil Quality on Uganda’s Aquaculture.” Expansion of the aquaculture sector is needed to increase aquatic protein for human consumption, but fisheries production from lakes and other natural waters in Uganda is declining. This study was conducted to improve understanding of limitations imposed on aquaculture by environmental factors of climate, soils, and water quality in Uganda. Ugandans can implement practices to mitigate these limitations and maximize sustainable aquaculture production to ensure a stable protein source for human consumption.