2026 Aquaculture Challenge champions

Jun 5, 2026 | News

Congratulations to the winning teams in the 2026 Aquaculture Challenge!

The Aquaculture Challenge is a collaboration between the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network and Lake Superior State University (LSSU) and is co-chaired by Michigan Sea Grant. This science competition engages students in grades 6-12 from around the Midwest in a four-month venture to build and monitor aquaponics systems, create business plans, and perform community outreach about aquaculture and seafood. 

The 2026 champions

High School DIvision

  • Outreach Award (best outreach and evaluation): Team Flow with the Grow, Washburn High School (Washburn, WI)
  • Most Innovative Design Award (best system design): Team Eastern High School, Eastern High School (Beaver, OH)
  • The Tech Savvy Award (best monitoring plan): Team Gill-ty as Charged (with Sell-fish Intentions), School of Options and Applied Research High School (Eagle River, WI)
  • The Business Experts Award (best business plan): Team HCIS, Harbor City International School (Duluth, MN)
  • Judges’ Choice Award: J&R Tobacco Company, Wabeno High School (Wabeno, WI)
  • Grand Prize (highest overall score): Team HCIS, Harbor City International School (Duluth, MN)

Middle School Division

  • Outreach Award (best outreach and evaluation): Team 7th Orange, Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School (Mahomet, IL)
  • Most Innovative Design Award (best system design): Team Eco Growth, John Adams Middle School (Rochester, MN)
  • The Tech Savvy Award (best monitoring plan): Team 7th Orange, Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School (Mahomet, IL)
  • The Business Experts Award (best business plan): Team 7th Blue, Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School (Mahomet, IL)
  • Grand Prize (highest overall score): Team Eco Growth, John Adams Middle School (Rochester, MN)

Two students sort through their aquaculture project

This year’s intrepid teams tackled challenges ranging from ice storms to power failures. They built computers, explored vertical growing towers, visited aquaculture facilities, and created coloring books. Their systems housed everything from turtles and spider plants to cucumbers and tilapia, carrots, mint, and strawberries. Students at Wabeno High School in Wisconsin grew tobacco for cultural and ceremonial use in the local tribal community. A team from Eastern High School in Ohio served tilapia and buttercrunch lettuce tacos to their school board to showcase the role and value of aquaculture. Above all, the students came away with new skills and knowledge in chemistry, biology, business, teamwork, creative thinking, and community engagement.

A student sorts through their aquaculture project10 years of aquaculture excellence

Aquaculture now produces more than 50% of the world’s seafood. Fish farming can be a vital and sustainable way to produce seafood, bait fish, and fish for conservation and stocking programs. Today, the United States imports 80% of the seafood consumed — and aquaculture can help fill that gap. 

Since the Aquaculture Challenge began in 2016, thousands of students from around the Great Lakes region have engaged in STEM learning, built project management and leadership skills, learned the health benefits of seafood, and explored potential career paths in aquaculture and aquaponics. 

A record 48 teams registered for the 2026 competition, representing about 500 students in every Great Lakes state, along with Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Teams come from rural, urban, and suburban schools or homeschool groups. The growing program is supported by the Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative (GLAC), a group of Great Lakes Sea Grant staff working together on state and regional aquaculture projects. The program is also supported by the Sea Grant-led Center for Great Lakes Literacy (CGLL). 

Who are we graphic showing the aquaculture logo and GLSGN logo

Elliot Nelson, a Michigan Sea Grant Extension educator and co-lead of the Aquaculture Challenge, is excited to watch the program grow. “I love this competition because it engages youth with science,” he said. “The competition is practical, hands-on, and a great way to get students excited about a subject that otherwise might be difficult or intimidating. And if they discover a potential new career pathway, that’s an added bonus.”

The program is already making a difference in the region. Hundreds of previous participants are now working in STEM fields, many specifically in aquaculture and aquaponics. Two previous Aquaculture Challenge contestants have now joined Sea Grant programs: Maggie Lawrence, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s aquaponics workforce development associate, and Julia Grenn, fisheries and aquaculture educator with Minnesota Sea Grant.

Join the Aquaculture Challenge

The Aquaculture Challenge is an excellent way for educators and parents to engage youth in a fresh way. Participating students work from January through April to design and engineer a variety of aquaponics systems, from table-top tanks to larger several-hundred-gallon systems. They spend the competition window monitoring and automating the systems, crafting business plans, and creating seafood outreach projects. Competition organizers provide stipends, mentoring, and plenty of resources to help teams get started. Learn more about the Aquaculture Challenge and watch for registration to open in late 2026 for the 2027 competition.