Grant funds field trip to learn about aquatic life
A group of eighth-grade students yelled and pointed excitedly at the water as red drum swarmed the surface of the hatchery stock tank after a tour guide sprinkled fish food into the water.
The students were part of a group of 23 students from Palacios Junior Senior High School who attended a field trip Thursday to the Sea Center Texas in Lake Jackson. The field trip was one of several funded by a grant from Alcoa Foundation, which was administered by Texas A&M University-Victoria. The grant funds field trips for area students in an effort to increase interest in the environment and science.
“These field trips are a good way to teach students all across the region about how they can take action to protect the environment,” said Dmitri Sobolev, interim dean of the College of Natural & Applied Science. “The Coastal Bend is an amazing place full of beautiful and delicate life, and I hope students will be inspired by it. A&M-Victoria is proud to work with Alcoa Foundation to offer these field trips to students from many of the communities in the area.”
On Thursday, the Palacios eighth-graders took a guided tour of the Sea Center Texas in order to learn how the fish hatchery supports the fish population along the Texas Gulf Coast by breeding and releasing millions of fish throughout the year. The Lake Jackson Sea Center focuses on breeding red drum, spotted sea trout and southern flounder. The Sea Center is run by Texas Parks & Wildlife.
The hatchery, and others like it along the coast, was created in response to a decline in the population of wild red drum in the 1970s and 1980s. The hatchery breeds wild-caught fish and raises their offspring to fingerling size, which are then released back into the wild. In addition to this purpose, the Sea Center also is dedicated to educating the public about the importance of protecting the environment along the Gulf Coast, said Jordan Kieffer, program specialist for the Sea Center Texas.
“Our main focus when we teach the public about the environment is interconnectedness,” Kieffer said. “Everything we do matters and has a ripple effect that impacts everything else. I love how the center helps children find information that is relevant to them and shows them the importance of protecting the natural world. It can inspire them to find a future career in environmental sciences, or maybe it just gets them more engaged with their environment.”
During the tour, Palacios students learned about the life cycle of red drum and other fish that are raised in the hatchery. In addition, they were able to see the different tanks, stock ponds and other equipment used in the process of breeding and raising the fish.
For Rose Botbyl, 14, the trip was a fun way to learn about the environment close to her home. In the future, she hopes to become a meteorologist, and she is interested in many different kinds of science subjects.
“This is a really cool place,” Rose said. “I enjoyed being here. It’s been great learning about the environment and how important it is to take precautions and protect it to keep it beautiful.”
Nathaniel Archer, 14, grew up spending lots of time fishing and being on the water. He hopes to join the U.S. Coast Guard one day to become an engineer for cutter ships. He’s also attended the Math & Robotics Awareness Day event at A&M-Victoria before, which is also funded by a grant from Alcoa Foundation.
“It’s amazing to come here and see how the fish are raised,” Nathaniel said. “It shows a side people don’t really think about. It takes dedication to keep the ecosystem healthy.”
Texas A&M University-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the colleges of Business, Education & Health Professions, Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, and Natural & Applied Science. A&M-Victoria provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as online classes that students can take from anywhere. The university supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.