Projects

Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) raise fish in closed tanks that reuse most of their water, allowing high production with limited waste. Conditions are tightly controlled, disease risks are lower, and facilities can be located almost anywhere—driving rapid growth in the U.S. and globally. Hydroponics grows plants indoors without soil and is now widely used to produce herbs and leafy greens sold in grocery stores. These crops grow quickly—often in just a few weeks. Aqua

Goal: Identify commercially viable uses for harvested sargassum and opportunities to develop a sustainable, sargassum-based industry. Massive blooms of sargassum seaweed have expanded across the tropical Atlantic, washing ashore throughout the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and West Africa. While sargassum provides valuable habitat in the open ocean, excessive coastal accumulations damage ecosystems, disrupt tourism and fisheries, and create public health concerns as the seaweed

Goal: Evaluate a market-based certification initiative designed to promote environmentally and socially responsible forest management and improve sustainability practices in the U.S. wood products sector. Growing public concern over forest management and timber harvesting practices led to the development of certification programs that identify wood products sourced from forests managed in environmentally and socially responsible ways. Originally developed in response to unsus

Goal: Evaluate the structure, effectiveness, and long-term sustainability of the Allegheny College Center for Economic and Environmental Development (CEED) as an interdisciplinary hub for experiential learning and community-based environmental and economic development. Founded in 1996 within Allegheny College’s Department of Environmental Science and Studies, the Center for Economic and Environmental Development (CEED) was established to expand experiential learning opportuni

Goal: To evaluate community-based watershed stewardship programs designed to reduce nonpoint source pollution and improve stream health. The Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization (CRCPO) established Stream Stewardship Programs in the Big Creek and Yellow Creek watersheds to support the Cuyahoga Remedial Action Plan. The long-term objective was to create self-sustaining, community-based stewardship programs that could be replicated throughout the watershed. TerrAqua e

Goal: Assess the need for a new Appalachian forest conservation initiative and identify opportunities for collaborative grantmaking across the region. TerrAqua assessed the environmental, ecological, demographic, and institutional landscape of the northern Appalachian region to help guide future conservation investments by The Heinz Endowments. Drawing on existing research, we evaluated forest conditions, ecological health, environmental threats, resource use, and the relatio

Goal: Support a community-driven economic development initiative that integrates environmental restoration with local entrepreneurship in Cleveland’s Upper East Side neighborhoods. For decades, Cleveland’s Upper East Side neighborhoods experienced chronic underinvestment despite being home to nearly 100,000 residents. Compared with the broader region, these communities faced significantly higher poverty and unemployment rates and substantially lower per capita incomes, limiti

Goal: Support the commercialization strategy for a low-cost solar-powered desalination technology developed to convert seawater and brackish water into potable water. Although desalination technologies are widely used—more than 22,000 plants operate in 177 countries and collectively supply about 1% of global drinking water—high capital and operating costs have historically limited broader adoption. Cost-reducing innovations are therefore critical to expanding access to freshw

Goal: Determine whether jellyfish predation was limiting the recovery of fish populations in Prince William Sound following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, several fish, bird, and marine mammal populations in Prince William Sound recovered more slowly than expected. TerrAqua participated in a study to determine whether abundant jellyfish were competing with forage fish, such as Pacific herring, by consuming large quantities of zooplankto

Goal: Advance understanding of how pollution, habitat degradation, and other environmental stressors affect fisheries and aquatic ecosystems, and improve their integration into fisheries management. Beginning in 1995, TerrAqua developed and organized a national conference series that brought together fisheries biologists, ecologists, toxicologists, habitat specialists, and resource managers to examine the combined effects of pollution, habitat degradation, and other environme

Goal: Help develop a framework for evaluating the environmental and economic impacts of alternative land-use patterns in Northeast Ohio. As Northeast Ohio sought new strategies for economic revitalization, the Center for Regional Economic Issues (REI) at Case Western Reserve University led a regional effort to better understand the long-term consequences of urban sprawl and alternative development patterns. TerrAqua participated in public and technical stakeholder meetings to

Goal: To influence the implementation of Pennsylvania’s 1996 law for restructuring the state’s electric utility industry to protect consumers and the environment. The Heinz Endowments invested in a partnership aimed at giving environmental advocates an effective voice in the debate about electric utility restructuring in Pennsylvania. In 1996, the state legislature passed the Electricity Generation Customer Choice and Competition Act which fundamentally altered an industry th

Goal: Plan a shared green office building for Cleveland nonprofit organizations by evaluating best practices, tenant needs, and development options. TerrAqua evaluated successful green office buildings across the United States—particularly those serving nonprofit organizations—to identify best practices in design, construction, financing, management, and tenant services. Through literature reviews, site visits, and interviews with building owners, developers, architects, tena

Goal: Commercialize innovative recirculating aquaculture technologies for sustainable, land-based production of high-value marine fish. Researchers at the University of Maryland developed and patented one of the first successful recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for commercially producing high-value marine fish in a completely closed, biosecure environment. The technology enables year-round production with minimal water use, eliminates effluent discharges and fish escap

Goal: Expand the nationwide adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) practices by developing a credible national certification program. Integrated pest management reduces pesticide use by combining biological, cultural, and other environmentally responsible pest-control methods. Although IPM offers significant environmental and public health benefits, its adoption has been limited by the lack of a nationally recognized certification program that allows consumers to identi

Goal: Evaluate the feasibility of small-scale commercial shellfish aquaculture as a sustainable economic opportunity for coastal communities. As wild shellfish populations declined and traditional fishing incomes fell, many coastal communities sought new ways to preserve their maritime heritage while supporting local livelihoods. TerrAqua evaluated the feasibility of developing a small-scale shellfish aquaculture industry in Southampton, New York. The study assessed environme

Goal: Help Chesapeake Bay watermen develop sustainable, small-scale oyster aquaculture while restoring oysters to the Bay and strengthening local economies. Smith Island, Maryland, and neighboring Tangier Island, Virginia, are historic Chesapeake Bay communities whose economies have long depended on crabbing and oystering. As wild oyster populations declined, TerrAqua helped develop an oyster aquaculture initiative to diversify local incomes while preserving the islands' mari

As Maryland watermen began transitioning from harvesting wild oysters to farming them, they needed practical guidance on production, marketing, and business planning. TerrAqua and Ocean Equities provided marketing and business development assistance to help growers evaluate the commercial potential of oyster aquaculture. We assessed production costs, potential revenues, and regional market opportunities for alternative growing and marketing strategies, and translated the resu

Goal: Evaluate the feasibility of integrating aquaculture and agriculture in arid regions of the southwestern United States. Integrated aquaculture and agriculture recycles nutrient-rich aquaculture water to irrigate greenhouse and field crops, conserving water and fertilizer while reducing production costs. Building on successful commercial systems developed in Israel's Negev Desert, TerrAqua evaluated the potential to adapt this approach to several sites in the American Sou

Goal: Strengthen agricultural collaboration between Ohio and Israel through research, technology transfer, trade, and commercial partnerships. TerrAqua and the Negev Foundation assessed the agricultural strengths, needs, and opportunities in Ohio and Israel to identify areas for expanded cooperation. The project examined opportunities for research collaboration, technology transfer, agricultural biotechnology, marketing, and trade, providing a framework for government agencie