Charlie Shultz has been focused on freshwater, integrated aquaculture systems — known as aquaponics — since his career began in 1991. Shultz graduated with a B.S. in Biology, and Wildlife and Fishery Science, from Virginia Tech in 1996. 

He has been involved with aquaculture research, teaching, and extension over the past 35 years. Currently, Shultz serves as the Academic Director for the Controlled Environment Agriculture program at Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico. This program trains the aquaponic, hydroponic, and algae workforce of the future.  

Shultz joins the Virginia Aquaculture Conference (VAC) as a pioneer in the aquaculture space, having spent over three decades in the industry. Keep reading to hear about his experience in aquaponics and his plans for VAC.

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Since 1990, my career focus has been aquaculture. I realized Recirculation Aquaculture Systems (RAS) could ensure safe food production without exposure to pollutants in our open systems while conserving resources like water and land. In 1991, I transferred to Virginia Tech from Mississippi State because, at that time, Virginia Tech was the top school for RAS education. As an undergraduate, I was employed at the Virginia Tech Aquaculture Center in Blacksburg from 1992 to 1996, where I helped the facility manager and graduate students conduct research. I became a broodstock manager for the tilapia on-site and worked with a Biofloc system housed in a greenhouse on campus. I was allowed to test the concept of growing plants in fish water, and in 1991, we produced our first crops of lettuce and basil at Virginia Tech. Soon after, we had marginal success with growing fruiting crops in fish water. This was the beginning of my over 30-year career with a focus on aquaponics. While at Virginia Tech, I was involved in the first RAS conferences, and we held the first ‘Aquaculture in the Classroom’ workshops during this time at the Hotel Roanoke.

After graduating in 1996, I took a two-year position at the University of Georgia culturing freshwater and marine fish for a genetic engineering program. We created transgenic fish that could serve as toxicology models. For many reasons, fish are better lab animals than mice or rats, and we were successful in creating fish models for toxicology studies. My focus was always food production, so I continued to look for work with RAS growing food fish. 

In 1998, I applied and accepted a position at the premier aquaponics research facility in St. Croix, at the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI). I oversaw water quality testing and plant production, and we began the first aquaponics short course that year. For 13 years, we conducted research and training workshops for growers from around the world, specifically teaching how to build, operate, and manage fish and plants in the UVI Aquaponic system. The system became a model around the world, and students from over 90 countries took our training program at UVI. 

After 13 years of validating the UVI system production potential and system design, I moved to Kentucky to complete my master’s degree in Aquaculture and Aquatic Science at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky. My master’s thesis analyzed indoor aquaponic production in relation to energy use and indoor lighting type. This work with indoor systems moved my career more toward Controlled Environment Agriculture. 

I spent the next two years as an Aquaponics Research Scientist at Lethbridge College in Alberta, Canada. I developed cooperative relationships with producers across Canada and helped create the potential for Organic Certification of aquaponic crops in Canada. During my time there, we saw the Barramundi — an Asian Sea Bass — finally approved for culture. We did aquaponic work with that species as well as tilapia, triploid grass carp, trout, and common carp. While working in this position, I collaborated with the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) network to train aquaponic researchers, creating resources for producers and researchers across Europe.

Two years later, I joined a former student on a commercial farm in San Marcos, Texas. At Lilypad Farm, we produced tilapia and a variety of plant crops and sold them into the wholesale markets. In just the one year I was in Texas, we experienced three 100-year floods. While all other farmers had crops ruined and fields left soggy, the aquaponic systems continued to produce through the storm and for the weeks after — continuously providing food for our local community. In 2015, I was asked to join the USDA Organic Task Force on Aquaponics and Hydroponics. I was a vocal advocate for USDA Organic Certification allowance for aquaponic crops. As a result of the task force report, the USDA National Organic Standards Board clarified that aquaponic crops are allowed for certification under the USDA program and have been since the onset of the Organic Program in 1990. 

Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) recruited me at this time to join their school as Lead Faculty of the Controlled Environment Agriculture program. The program utilizes algae, aquaponics, and hydroponics as model systems to teach students about urban agriculture and greenhouse management. I came with decades of experience, and I hired a professional aquaponic producer from Puerto Rico as our lead greenhouse technician after the Caribbean hurricanes in 2016. Our students now earn degrees in Controlled Environment Agriculture with a focus on aquaponics, hydroponics, and algae cultivation. At SFCC, we collaborate with universities working on aquaponics and algae research and training, and we help our local Pueblo and other native communities become more food sovereign. 

During my talk at the 2025 Virginia Aquaculture Conference in Newport News, VA, I will discuss the Evolution of Aquaponics during the span of my career. I will discuss industry successes and failures, and cover trends in the industry over the past three decades. When I began my career at Virginia Tech, there was no internet — now prospective students jump on social media and are often confused by conflicting information on aquaponics. In 1991, very few consumers knew what tilapia was — now most aquaponic systems use tilapia as the main nutrient generator for plants. The industry is now full of interest in topics like food safety, energy efficiencies, organic certification, and decoupling aquaponic systems. Much has changed in the past three decades, while much has remained the same.   

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You can register for the Virginia Aquaculture Conference, held on Friday, November 14 and Saturday, November 15, here. ‘The Evolution of Aquaponics: a 30-year perspective’ will take place during the ‘Everything but Bivalve Session’ on Saturday, at 11:00 am. See the full program here.

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