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Since 2010, conservation efforts have been made to increase native and other desirable trout populations while decreasing predatory lake trout populations (Koel et al., 2020). From the microbes in the soil to the birds in the trees, all organisms play their part in the ecosystem. Non-predating trout species, such as rainbow trout and cutthroat trout, feed on insects and serve as food to larger predators such as otters, birds, and bears. Improving populations is essential for biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Conservation efforts use watersheds or fish hatcheries to raise desirable trout and later release them. However, these conservation efforts are ineffective if trout are dying in watersheds or shortly after release. By identifying the microbial population in the watersheds, we may better understand the biochemical reactions occurring and how these reactions impact trout health.  This study may support the development of more successful conservation efforts, promoting fish resiliency and increased overall population.

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Statement of Problem Significance - Aileen

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Statement of Problem Significance - Aileen

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Trout are a significant species in the riparian ecosystem of the Wind River Basin. As predators, they create cascading trophic impacts throughout the food web, and they are an indicator of overall watershed biodiversity and health (Meissner & Muotka, 2006; T.,Dauwalter, et. al., 2020). Unfortunately, three of the four species of trout native to Wyoming are classified as “sensitive” species by the Wyoming Bureau of Land Management, meaning that they are not currently endangered or extinct within the state, but they are in a precarious position (Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, 2025). Habitat destruction and pollution are two major factors increasing native trout species’ vulnerability to population decline, necessitating conservation efforts to improve the outcomes of trout populations and the watersheds that they occupy (Dauwalter, et. al., 2020). One such effort, the “Trout in the Classroom” program, is an initiative that combines education and conservation, allowing students to get hands-on experience in science topics by raising trout for eventual release. Students and teachers that participate in this program are in charge of maintaining water chemistry and microbial communities within the tanks that are beneficial to the survival of the fish. However, they have limited knowledge about the dynamics that exist between the nitrogen cycle, the bicarbonate buffering system, and the microbial community, making it difficult to keep the tank system in balance. Therefore, it is important to investigate and attempt to understand these relationships in order to provide the best outcomes for the classroom-raised trout and the students raising them. Hopefully, having successful trout-raising programs in schools will help students to form a connection with their watersheds, and encourage them to, in turn, educate others in their community about the importance of ecosystem health and conservation efforts.

Dauwalter, D. C., Duchi, A., Epifanio, J., Gandolfi, A., Gresswell, R., Juanes, F., ... & Williams, J. E. (2020). A call for global action to conserve native trout in the 21st century and beyond. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 29(3), 429-432.

Meissner, K., & Muotka, T. (2006). The role of trout in stream food webs: integrating evidence from field surveys and experiments. Journal of Animal Ecology, 75(2), 421-433.

Wyoming Natural Diversity Database. (2025, August 7). WYNDD Wyoming Species list . Wyoming Species List. https://wyndd.org/species_list/?usfws_esa=All&columns=sciname%2Ccomname%2Csynonyms%2Ctaxgroup%2Ctaxgroup2%2Cblm_wy%2Cg_rank%2Cs_rank%2Cusfws_esa%2Cusfs_sens%2Cusfs_solc%2Cwgfd_sgcn%2Cwy_contrib%2Cwyndd_soc%2Cwy_occur%2Cwy_origin&servicePrefix=prod_

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Trout inhabit streams and rivers and play an important role in the ecosystem. Their role in the food web is primarily predatory, which makes them a great candidate for regulating certain prey species. Trout also contribute to the chemical makeup in the water by secreting nitrogenous waste. When in excess, this waste can make the ecosystem toxic, which has negative consequences for the organisms. Nitrifying bacteria present in the streams can play a role in converting this toxic waste into a more beneficial and less harmful substance.

The” Trout in the Classroom” program provides the opportunity for students to regulate and observe trout in a fish tank. With this program, students raise the fish in the tanks and then release them into the streams at the appropriate time. Students will accumulate information about the chemical makeup of the tank. Just like in their natural habitat, these fish will release their waste into the tank. In some instances, this waste toxicity has resulted in the loss of fish. This can suggest that the microbes present are not performing the nitrification process needed to convert the waste. Understanding the mechanism that these microbes use in this process will help us to provide a sufficient tank environment for them to succeed. Properly maintaining the tank and providing the right environment is key to preparing the fish for a safe release.

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Ecosystems across the globe are complex structures with many interconnected parts. These include abiotic features, such as terrain, minerals, and other physical characteristics, as well as biotic features, such as plants, animals, and microbiota. All of these components interact with one another, producing both positive and negative effects.

In the Wind River Mountain Range of Wyoming, trout are an especially important part of the aquatic ecosystem. Trout are valued not only for recreation and as a food source, but also for their role in controlling insect populations and serving as an indicator species of environmental health.

Another key factor in aquatic ecosystems is bacteria. Bacteria play a crucial role in breaking down matter and managing nutrient cycling. Both trout and microbiota interact within streams, particularly through processes such as nitrogen cycling. For example, fish waste can raise ammonia levels in the water and disrupt pH balance. Such changes in water chemistry can be lethal to many organisms in the stream, including trout. Microbiota help stabilize the system by converting nitrogen into usable forms, such as nitrate.

For the microbiome to fix nitrogen and fulfill its essential roles in maintaining water quality, certain conditions must be met. Understanding how to support microbial communities is critical to keeping aquatic ecosystems balanced.

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Significant Statement For Beneficial Bacteria- Abbey

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Significant Statement For Beneficial Bacteria- Abbey

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Aquaculture faces the dual challenge of producing healthy fish efficiently while maintaining environmental sustainability. Beneficial bacteria address both issues by enhancing trout growth and welfare and simultaneously improving ecosystem stability. At the level of the host, these microbes promote vitamin synthesis, digestion, and feed conversion, leading to faster growth and reduced disease outbreaks. By balancing the microbiome and excluding pathogens, they reduce the need for antibiotics, lowering both costs and risks of resistance. At the ecosystem level, beneficial bacteria cycle nutrients, decompose waste, stabilize oxygen levels, and mitigate harmful metabolites, ensuring water quality and reducing reliance on chemical treatments. These functions together highlight beneficial bacteria as keystone players that link productivity with environmental resilience, positioning them as essential tools for developing a sustainable and cost-effective aquaculture industry.

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To understand and manage the microbial balance in our trout aquaculture will be crucial for overall fish health, water quality, sustainable food production, and healthy release into the ecosystem. Our project will explore specific changes to the tank such as incorporating lava rock as a high-surface-area medium to enhance aerobic bacterial activity. Which, in turn, can help the bacteria better process ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite. Beyond that, using non-invasive swabbing techniques to study the fish themselves skin and gut microbiomes, we can monitor the beneficial and harmful bacterial communities working towards limiting those harmful ones. By identifying the bacterial parties within the tank that support waste breakdown, disease resistance, and overall fish resilience, we aim to reduce reliance on antibiotics and improve survival rates. The research conducted benefits trout farmers by reducing economic losses. And advances sustainable aquaculture practices that align with ecological processes. While also getting fish from hatcheries ready to be released into the natural ecosystem around the wind river reservoir. Ultimately, we wish to work with not agains,t microbial communities to offer a pathway to healthier fish and a more resilient food system.

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Successful rearing of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) for conservation programs depends critically on maintaining stable water quality parameters, including pH, carbonate hardness, general hardness, nitrite, nitrate, and other chemical balances. Fluctuations in these parameters can compromise fish health, growth, and survival, ultimately reducing the success of hatchery-to-stream release programs, such as the trout in the classroom program. Conventional approaches to water chemistry management often rely on chemical additives or mechanical filtration, which can be costly, labor-intensive, and sometimes environmentally disruptive. Biological agents, such as live aquatic plants and natural substrates like driftwood, demonstrate potential for naturally modulating water chemistry by influencing carbonate and general hardness, pH stabilization, and nitrogen cycling. Understanding how these biological interventions impact water chemistry could provide an ecologically sustainable method to enhance fish health and reduce the need for chemical management. This research aims to fill a critical knowledge gap by evaluating the role of plants and other organic agents in balancing key water chemistry parameters in trout-rearing aquaria. The findings will not only inform hatchery management practices but also contribute to the broader goals of conservation and ecosystem stewardship by promoting methods that are both cost-effective and environmentally compatible.

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Certain imbalances have been brought to attention in maintaining a balanced aquaculture that affects the Wind River Reservoir ecosystem. The Wind River watershed has been rearing trout to increase the declining trout population and overall health of the reservoir. However, the health is heavily dependent on various interconnected factors including the air quality, water chemistry, microbiome communities, carbonate and general hardness, etc. Influencing any of these factors without true understanding of the affects it could have, could significantly benefit or harm the reared and wild trout. The prevailing issues show that there is still area for improvement that requires understanding we do not have yet. With this need identified, we can then determine how a aquatic ecosystem maintains balance of the trout's health and growth in the watershed and the Wind River Reservoir.

As we overcome the lack of understanding, we can see the naturally occurring interventions and learn how we can enable instead of inhibiting it by our actions and ignorance. This can improve the role of aquaculture caretaking to be more efficient regarding job security, finances, and overall management. Raising awareness of these growing issues through Trout in the Classroom will further necessitate changes that are discovered through our current research. These modifications will allow the trout reared in the watershed to flourish when released into the Wind River Reservoir. Finally, this will also allow Wyoming communities to have access to better water, air, and fish quality as well as a understanding for why these changes are needed.

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The conversations with our community partners emphasized the importance that chemical and microbial processes play in regulating fish health, as well as highlighted the need to replicate key features of the Wind River Canyon ecosystem in classroom fish tanks. By moving past basic alkalinity adjustments, like the addition of baking soda, and toward a more holistic recreation of the canyon's natural microbiome, this research will convey a vital part of how biotic and abiotic factors interact to support cold-water trout health.

Current trout-in-the-classroom setups rely on chemical treatments that fail to capture the dynamics of nitrate cycling, carbonate hardness, and microbial community structure found in the Wind River Canyon. As a result, fish experience physiological stress during acclimation, leading to reduced survival rates upon release. This research aims to characterize the canyon’s water chemistry and microbial formation, then develop tank protocols that mimic those parameters—thereby improving trout resilience and post-release success.

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Global Warming and climate change are one of thirty two Global Issues proposed by the United Nations, and that many scientists have been working towards fixing. One of the many reasons that climate change is a global issue is the loss of organisms and habitats. One such habitat of interest is North American watersheds and the trout that live in them. The Trout in the Classroom program is a program that allows young students to learn about the trout and health of watersheds through raising trout in their own classroom and releasing them into the wild. Our research aims to improve the balance between the microbial community, water environment, and trout health by studying the natural conditions and survival tactics of microbes with natural rivers. This will increase our knowledge of the effects of a stable microbiome on trout and the varying conditions that cause dysbiosis in our North American watersheds. This information will also be taught to the students of the Trout in the Classroom program to help spread continue in the program's mission to spread awareness of our watersheds' health by improve their tanks and curriculum.