Teo Buisson had a unique childhood. Born in France, he spent his early years in San Francisco and then his family moved to Milwaukee when he was in sixth grade. Spending time at his family’s fishing cabin in northern Wisconsin piqued his interest in fish.
He headed back to California for college and graduated with an undergraduate degree in marine biology from the University of California–San Diego in December 2024. Summer research at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences fueled his interest in sustainable aquaculture.
A grant from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin supported his undergraduate internship in Professor Dong-Fang Deng’s fish labs. His experience was part of efforts to train a much-needed aquaculture workforce. Buisson credits his hands-on training with helping him to land a job as an aquaculture technician at Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, a nonprofit scientific research organization in Carlsbad, Calif.
“I believe having worked in an aquaculture lab made me a very competitive candidate when applying to jobs in the aquaculture industry,” Buisson says. “It’s an up-and-coming field, with limited numbers of people familiar with aquaculture systems engineering and fish rearing.”
His internship duties included feeding fish stocks, taking daily water quality measurements, and assisting with general aquaculture maintenance such as cleaning tanks and fixing aquaculture systems.
Leading Research and Gaining Confidence
The highlight of his internship — outside of feeding sturgeon and very rowdy tilapia — was leading clinical research. Buisson studied how microplastic contamination in the diet of juvenile yellow perch affects their growth performance, nutritional quality, and heat shock response. He learned how to create special diets, measure perch, run statistics and keep fish happy and healthy overall. He presented his research findings at the World Aquaculture Society in New Orleans.
“Despite being challenging, this experience was incredibly rewarding,” he says. “Presenting the findings to an audience of aquaculture professionals trained me in presenting scientific data concisely, choosing what valuable data to focus on, and maintaining my cool despite being pretty nervous.”
At the conference, he also learned about aquaculture innovations and met other professionals. He says the experience was invaluable in preparing for his career. A few months into his job with Hubbs, Buisson feels confident in his capabilities. Because of his time in Deng’s lab, he knew what to expect and how to quickly learn new protocols and use new equipment. Just as important, he’s excited about his career path.
“I’m interested in the positive effects aquaculture can have in providing a more sustainable source of seafood, as well as its restorative capabilities to mitigate the lasting consequences of overfishing,” Buisson says.
Plus, he says, watching a fish grow from an egg to a market size fish is an awesome way to spend his days.
Written by Heidi Jeter, Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin.