10/17/2026
Zarin Subah, a doctoral student from Bangladesh studying environmental science, is working with Professor Jae Ryu to help tackle a pressing issue: food insecurity.
Zarin's research is centered around aquaponics and hydroponics, where she grows plants without soil, and instead, uses the nutrient-rich water from an adjacent aquatic system that houses mature rainbow trout.
Each week, she carefully monitors and cares for a variety of robust leafy vegetables and seventeen adult rainbow trout, which are cold-water fish that flourish in cool lakes and streams.
“The unique part of my research is that I specifically focus on the organic side and on cold-water aquaponics,” Zarin said. “I grow rainbow trout in a low-cost, fully controlled organic aquaponic environment, which is still quite novel in this field.”
Through detailed computer modeling, Zarin studies how a controlled cold-water ecosystem works and finds ways to make it more sustainable.
In most aquaculture systems, the solid fish waste is discarded, but she has developed a solid waste re-mineralization approach.
This is where waste is captured and converted back into usable nutrients for the plants, which means the system is cycling and transforming the nutrients instead of losing them.
“I like to describe it as a nutrient-transforming system rather than a nutrient-removing one,” Zarin said. “This is what makes it truly a closed-loop, zero-waste system, which I think is where the real potential lies for sustainable indoor farming.”
She hopes her research on sustainable farming helps address food insecurity globally and is making significant strides toward accomplishing her goal.
These systems, like the one she has built in downtown Boise, can operate in places where traditional farming is not possible — such as in deserts, areas with harsh winters or places with water scarcity.
“Zarin's research is a genuinely innovative approach to feeding urban dwellers across the Treasure Valley with fresh, local food while designing for zero waste in an era of abrupt climate change,” Jae said.
Just as importantly, it offers the wider aquaculture industry a practical blueprint for exploring alternative business models as cold water availability becomes increasingly uncertain under shifting snowpack conditions, Jae said.
Thank you, Zarin, for your dedication to advancing agriculture!
University of Idaho
