Tucked away inside Southern Illinois University’s McLafferty Annex is one of the university’s best-kept secrets: a fully functioning aquarium and aquaculture research facility that few students even know exists.
“It’s been here since 2013 — that’s well over 10 years. Why does nobody know about this place?” said zoology senior Ashlynn Shea, who serves as the lead student manager of the aquatic facility.
The aquarium is home to a range of freshwater and saltwater species, including native Illinois river fish and vibrant coral systems. Tanks with shovelnose sturgeon, largemouth bass, clownfish and various coral species offer opportunities for students to gain hands-on research experience in aquaculture, toxicology and aquatic behavior studies.
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“These are river species,” Shea explained while gesturing toward a tank of sturgeon. “They’re native to our rivers around here. They’re very ancient — these guys have been around since the dinosaurs, and they’ve never evolved.”
Shea began working at the aquarium shortly after transferring to SIU, where she was immediately offered a research position by James E. Garvey, professor of zoology, fisheries and aquaculture.
“That day I met with him, he offered me a job,” she said. “He asked, ‘Do you want to be my coral expert for the next two years?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”
Since then, Shea has been responsible for maintaining the tanks and managing the facility’s growing number of volunteers through the Saluki Coral Reefers Club, a registered student organization that supports the aquarium’s mission.
“The club is tied into the aquarium,” Shea said. “We have a ton of people who are interested in volunteering … but working with live animals takes training. We have to ensure that they’re not going to harm the system.”
Beyond its day-to-day care, the aquarium also supports innovative research. Shea’s current project focuses on aquaponics, a sustainable system combining fish farming and plant cultivation.
“I’m growing cannabis in a greenhouse, but since I work here, I decided to do aquaponics versus hydroponics,” she said. “It combines my two interests — fisheries and plant science.”
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Despite its promise and educational potential, the aquarium faces persistent challenges, particularly with funding and visibility.
“The main challenge is just funding,” Shea said. “It’s not even on our website!”
SIU’s Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, which oversees the facility, is the only program of its kind in Illinois. Students and faculty emphasize that its mission, breeding and maintaining fish populations in controlled environments, plays a critical role in sustainable aquaculture, a field essential to preventing overfishing and species decline.
“Aquaculture is the future,” Shea explained. “Every lake is stocked with fish that are bred in captivity, then released into the wild. It’s how we maintain populations. Without it, everything would decline.”
The facility has already proven its worth in shaping student careers.
“We’ve had people who worked here and landed their dream job right off the bat,” Shea said. “One of the guys I trained worked here for a year and then got hired at an aquaculture facility. It’s helping people down the road.”
Still, Shea hopes to see the aquarium expand and gain the recognition it deserves.
“Right now, it’s really me, a postdoc and the volunteers,” she said. “I want it to expand to more employees and include students from other majors. It shouldn’t just be for fisheries majors — it should be inclusive.”
In addition to her work in fisheries and aquaculture, Shea also holds minors in chemistry and cannabis production, which she has uniquely integrated into her research at the aquarium. Her latest study examines how fish can supplement cannabis plant growth in an aquaponic system, blending biology, chemistry and sustainable farming techniques.
“This is kind of my new study right now because I have a cannabis minor,” Shea said. “I’m growing in a greenhouse, but since I also work here, I decided to do aquaponics versus hydroponics.”
Shea’s experimental setup uses juvenile largemouth bass, a native and popular sportfish, to observe how nutrients from fish waste can enhance cannabis growth in water-based systems. “It’s how the fish can supplement the plants for growth,” she explained. “It combines my two interests, and I’ve learned a lot since doing it.”
As Shea prepares to graduate, she is already training underclassmen to take over. “When I first came in, it was kind of a mess,” she said. “Now that I know what I’m doing, I want to teach other people that as well. I just want to make sure it’s in good hands.”
The SIU Aquarium remains one of the university’s most unique, underpublicized spaces — a symbol of scientific curiosity quietly thriving beneath the surface of campus life. For Shea and her team, the hope is that one day, everyone at SIU will know it exists.
“It’s a sustainable form of farming, it’s the future, and it’s right here in Carbondale,” Shea said.
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