Dr. Dave

Affiliation Freshwater Farms of Ohio, Inc. About Dr. Dave is an Environmental and Nutritional Scientist, and an Innovator in Aquaculture, Green Technologies in Water Management, Treatment, and Aquaponics. Biography Dr. David Allen Smith, Ph.D. received his bachelor’s degree in Biology from The Ohio State University (1976), master’s degree in Marine Sciences (wetland ecolog ... y) from Louisiana State University (1979) and his Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison 1987 with minors in Food Science, Biochemistry, and Limnology(Aquatic Sciences). While there he conducted fish nutrition research at the UW Aquaculture Research Laboratory. In 1983, Dave founded Freshwater Farms of Ohio, Inc. at a former poultry farm north of Urbana. This integrated fish hatchery, fish grow-out, processing plant, and wholesale/retail market operation, specializes in chemical and drug-free rearing of rainbow trout in water-recycling indoor systems in solar-heated barns. Dave also became the Research Director for WaterSmith Systems, a division of Freshwater Farms of Ohio, Inc. which manufactures pond fountains and lighting systems, and provides consultations, public seminars, pond management clinics, and research and development of equipment and systems for the aquaculture industry (including commercial indoor recirculating systems, levee pond and cage culture systems). Dr. Smith also designs constructed wetland and micro-algae systems for commercial wastewater treatment. In 1999, as the fish feed nutritionist and a founding partner, Freedom Feeds, Inc. was established in Urbana as the first commercial producer of fishmeal-free aquaculture diets for trout and salmon, and other sustainable grain-based diets for fish and shrimp species. Dr. Smith is presently continuing his R&D of sustainable aquaculture diets with alternative feed sources processed using renewable energy sources. See More Awards His company, Freshwater Farms of Ohio, was awarded Wittenberg University’s Entrepreneurial Business of the Year Award in 2011. The company he and his partners ... started, Freedom Feeds, was awarded the same Entrepreneurial Business of the Year Award in 2004. Dr. Dave was honored as Preservationist of the Year in 2011 by the Champaign County Preservation Alliance. See More Gender Male Personal Information President and Founder of Freshwater Farms of Ohio, Inc. Director of R&D, WaterSmith Systems Division Champaign County Local Foods Council, Charter Member ... Monument Square (Historical) District, Board Member Ohio Aquaculture Association, Secretary, Past President North Central Region Aquaculture Center (USDA), Industry Panel, Past Chair, Bd. Member Champaign County Farmer's Market, Founding Member See More