When entering Aquaculture as a year one student, you should expect to learn a good overview of what all is to come. You will start out learning in a freshwater environment. In this environment you will farm trout and catfish and use their waste to grow plants. You will also learn basic skills such as, measuring and collecting information on the growth of your fish and plants, and how to properly clean and upkeep your tank and all of its components.

As a year two student in the Aquaculture course, you will take your knowledge in collecting data, upkeep and cleaning, and everything else taught in the Aquaculture one class and transfer it over to a Saltwater environment. So instead of performing these tasks on freshwater fish like trout and catfish, you will not be doing them with a saltwater fish which is the speckled trout. You will also still be growing plants with the waste just like in Aquaculture one.

Year 3 in the Aquaculture class is going to be the most educational year in the program. You will now be learning at the University of Southern Miss Research lab on East Beach. You will still be doing basic things like measuring and cleaning, but you will also learn a few new skills. Skills like microscopic work where you will study the chemical makeup and cells of organisms. Also, you will learn to do chemical work on the water and other factors of the environment.