Tennessee Aquarium outlines statewide conservation, education programs and new exhibit

Nashville — Andy Wood, president and CEO of the Tennessee Aquarium, told the Senate Energy, Agricultural and Natural Resources Committee about the aquarium’s education and freshwater conservation programs, recent investments and plans to expand species recovery work into additional Tennessee waterways.

Wood said the aquarium has welcomed more than 29 million visitors since opening in 1992 and contributes an estimated annual economic impact of about $187 million. He told the committee a $1,000,000 state investment was leveraged with $1,200,000 in aquarium funds to build a new gallery called Scuttlebutt Reef, scheduled to open in March.

On education, Wood said the aquarium connects with more than 50,000 schoolchildren annually through standards‑based curricula and the newly opened Stream Learning Center, which adds three classrooms for outreach and in‑school programming.

Conservation was a focus of the presentation. Wood outlined laboratory and propagation work at a conservation campus on Baylor campus and said the aquarium has released more than 430,000 lake sturgeon over 25 years; those efforts, he said, contributed to a federal status change for lake sturgeon from endangered to threatened. He also described the Laurel Dace recovery program, noting captive propagation and community outreach events such as Laurel Dace Day in Spring City.

When Senator Bowen asked about work in the Duck River and on Asian carp, Wood said the aquarium is exploring mussel work in the Duck River this year and that staff have husbandry experience relevant to carp but are not currently running Asian carp projects.

The committee thanked the aquarium presenters and planned a field trip to view the new exhibit. No committee votes resulted from the presentation.