{"214501":{"#nid":"214501","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Van Ginkel Designs Future of Farming with Aquaponics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIf urban farming is the cure for food deserts, Steven Van Ginkel may be the man to lead us to the oasis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring the two years since he arrived at Georgia Tech from Phoenix, Ariz., the research engineer in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering has worked with people across the city and country to bring local, sustainable food sources to these so-called food deserts \u2014 areas with limited access to fresh, affordable groceries. In April he was honored with the Georgia Tech Earth Day Environmental Leadership Award, a nod to an individual or group that has had a significant, long-term environmental impact on campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen he came to Tech in 2011, Van Ginkel took the helm of a net zero water, energy, and nutrient, high intensity, urban aquaponics initiative. His upbringing on a family farm in Iowa, combined with degrees in fisheries and environmental engineering, made the project a perfect fit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, Van Ginkel has focused on his own Sustainable Aquaponic Systems project, also a net-zero, high intensity urban farming endeavor aimed at helping city dwellers grow their own food. Aquaponics is essentially a high intensity farm that produces both vegetables and fish with the same resources; it lets people become urban farmers by growing their own food in a small space. Systems can be built at any scale and size, with multiple ways to nourish produce and fish. Van Ginkel envisions having an aquaponics system on campus that would use food waste from dining halls, rainwater, and solar energy to grow fresh food to then be consumed in dining halls once again. With other projects such as \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/sos.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EStudents Organizing for Sustainability\u003C\/a\u003E\u0027s West Campus community garden, Ideas to Serve People\u2019s Choice winner \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BrliDmAOmvE\u0022\u003EAtlanta Harvest\u003C\/a\u003E, and the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/bees.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGT Urban Honey Bees Project\u003C\/a\u003E, a growing population of students, faculty and staff are finding ways to source food for campus without leaving Tech\u2019s borders.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0022Teach a Man to Fish\u0022\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVan Ginkel can teach just about anyone the science of aquaponics. He advises the student group Urban Bios that is driving the campus aquaponics project. He\u2019s working to install a system at Underground Atlanta that could help revive the waning tourist area. Representatives from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport have voiced interest in constructing an aeroponics system, similar to hydroponics, for the airport\u2019s atrium, partly inspired by \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.flychicago.com\/OHare\/EN\/AboutUs\/Sustainability\/Aeroponic-Garden.aspx\u0022\u003Ea garden in Chicago O\u2019Hare International Airport\u003C\/a\u003E. He has even consulted with students on building a system at their fraternity house.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOutside the perimeter, Van Ginkel is working to bring aquaponics to an industrial park in Buena Vista, Ga., and a fish farm in Sparta, Ga. In his own backyard in Marietta, he constructed a system over the course of a few days for less than $750 that produces several pounds of food each week for his family.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough he leaves the ultimate vision for a campus aquaponics system to the Urban Bios team, Van Ginkel imagines having something that would show various aspects of sustainable food production \u2014 a small system, but one that would also incorporate community involvement on and off campus, modeling the ability of urban farming to not only create a fresh food source, but also jobs and a sense of community in places that may lack all three.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022America would be truly blessed if this kind of healthy food were as accessible as fast food,\u0022 he said. \u0022Our current food system is controlled by relatively few people. It\u0027s unhealthy, it\u0027s not democratic, and it may not be resilient. It\u2019s time for a change and, with our economy as it is today, the current time is perfect for this change.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom Fish to Fuel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVan Ginkel\u2019s main role on campus is now devoted to Tech being one of five universities in the nation participating in the Department of Energy-funded Algae Testbed Public-Private Partnership (ATP\u003Csup\u003E3\u003C\/sup\u003E). The three-year project will provide data to enhance the productivity of algae as biodiesel. In ponds being installed at a Georgia Tech Research Institute facility off North Avenue, algae will be grown, tested and refined as a biofuel product.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen testing is done and it comes time to dispose of algae, Van Ginkel sees a three-step process: first, nutrients in food waste are used to grow algae; the algae is then fed to rotifers, copepods, and zooplankton; finally, these are fed to fish that can be harvested for human consumption. Guided by the idea that \u201cyou are what you eat,\u201d Van Ginkel plans to grow algae high in heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids. In the future, he envisions installations that creat a symbiotic relationship between aquaponic systems and algae-biodiesel farms that enable people to grow both their own food and fuel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A lot of people are malnourished in America and around the world, and this is curable if we have the will. It would be great if students and faculty could help design and operate a super efficient system here on campus that can then be replicated worldwide.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFinding sustainable solutions to modern problems remains at the heart of Van Ginkel\u2019s many projects and endeavors. Last fall, while trying to conceive of a cheap insulation material for \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gtalumnimag.com\/2012\/11\/recycled-tires-used-to-build-earthship\/\u0022\u003Ean energy-efficient \u2018earthship\u2019\u003C\/a\u003E constructed to grow mushrooms, he happened upon discarded tires in Peachtree Creek. He returned with a group of students and recovered nearly 500 tires from just a few miles of the creek, simultaneously cleaning up the waterway and providing a sustainable material for the project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVan Ginkel, who raises fish in his home system, takes the \u201cteach a man to fish\u201d mantra to heart. He\u2019ll provide blueprints or talk with anyone who\u2019s interested in taking on urban farming and willingly gives group talks or presentations. If his efforts go as planned, backyard aquaponics, downtown greenhouses, and campus algae ponds are just the beginnings of a more sustainable and self-sufficient society starting here in Atlanta.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEnvironmental engineer Steven W. Van Ginkel conducts research on algal biofuel and has a vision for using urban farming to solve world hunger.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Environmental engineer Steven W. Van Ginkel conducts research on algal biofuel and has a vision for using urban farming to solve world hunger."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2013-05-23 16:47:28","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:16","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-05-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-05-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"215611":{"id":"215611","type":"image","title":"Van Ginkel Tends Aquaponics","body":null,"created":"1449180114","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:54","changed":"1475894879","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:59","alt":"Van Ginkel Tends Aquaponics","file":{"fid":"197103","name":"8893512484_e5c09538cc_b.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/8893512484_e5c09538cc_b_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/8893512484_e5c09538cc_b_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":379682,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/8893512484_e5c09538cc_b_0.jpg?itok=OZJAX1dB"}},"214511":{"id":"214511","type":"image","title":"Steven Van Ginkel\u0027s Home Aquaponics","body":null,"created":"1449180096","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:36","changed":"1475894879","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:59","alt":"Steven Van Ginkel\u0027s Home Aquaponics","file":{"fid":"197026","name":"8892893587_844cb2670a_b.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/8892893587_844cb2670a_b_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/8892893587_844cb2670a_b_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":475227,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/8892893587_844cb2670a_b_0.jpg?itok=oH6qrWbs"}},"215711":{"id":"215711","type":"image","title":"Tilapia in Aquaponics","body":null,"created":"1449180114","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:54","changed":"1475894879","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:59","alt":"Tilapia in Aquaponics","file":{"fid":"197108","name":"8893509770_5da1ff257c_b_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/8893509770_5da1ff257c_b_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/8893509770_5da1ff257c_b_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":317925,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/8893509770_5da1ff257c_b_0_0.jpg?itok=5fj_QZPO"}}},"media_ids":["215611","214511","215711"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/cee.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Civil and Environmental Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1182","name":"General"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"66801","name":"aquaponics"},{"id":"479","name":"Green Buzz"},{"id":"169533","name":"steven van ginkel"},{"id":"166890","name":"sustainability"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:Steven.van.Ginkel@ce.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESteven Van Ginkel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECivil and Environmental Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}