The Aquadome Effect: Turning Passion into Purpose in Aquatic Education

About this episode

This episode features Katrin Rudge discussing her innovative aquascience program at Riverview High School and the impact of hands-on aquatic education.

In this episode of The Modern Farming Podcast , we sit down with Katrin Rudge, Aquascience teacher at Riverview High School, whose program is nothing short of extraordinary. What started with simple aqua balls has grown into a full-scale, immersive aquascience program that gives students hands-on experience in aquatic ecosystems, marine life, and real-world conservation. At the center of it all is the Aquadome, an outdoor greenhouse that houses a dynamic collection of living systems designed, maintained, and studied by students. Inside the Aquadome, students work directly with a shark tank featuring multiple species of sharks and tropical fish, a mangrove ecosystem, a coral reef tank, and clownfish breeding systems that support live food production. The program also includes a snook tank, where students raise juvenile snook, tag them, and release them in partnership with MOTE Marine Laboratory, contributing to real conservation efforts happening right here in Florida. Katrin shares how she built this program from the ground up, the challenges she faced along the way, and the vision that kept it moving forward. Named Sarasota County Teacher of the Year in 2013, she brings a level…

People in this episode

Guest: Katrin Rudge

Topics covered

• aquatic education
• hands-on learning
• marine conservation
• student engagement
• ecosystems

Keywords

• aquascience
• Aquadome
• shark tank
• coral reef
• conservation
• education
• Florida
• marine life

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Riverview High School, MOTE Marine Laboratory

Places: Florida

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