Kaben Smallwood

                       President, CEO, Owner

 

Kaben's passion for aquaponics is connected to growing up around his grandparents' farm in Southeast Oklahoma. He has helped prepare the land, plant seeds, maintain the crops and harvest the family farm for over two decades. Working together with his brother Shelby, Kaben has overseen farm operations for the past several years. As a trained economist, he appreciates that aquaponic agriculture has higher yields, less waste and requires less labor. Aquaponics also appeals to Kaben's Native American culture.  He is a proud member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and appreciates aquaponics’ natural and water-conserving aspects. He currently holds and advisory position on the USDA Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Committee. 

 

Kaben has a degree in economics from the University of Oklahoma and a Juris Doctorate and Master of Business Administration from Oklahoma City University and is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association. He has lived in a number of towns in Oklahoma, but now calls Talihina home.  In addition to his passion for aquaponics, Kaben enjoys being outdoors, playing and watching sports, and spending time with friends and family.

 

Please email Kaben if you are interested in more information, consultations, custom and commercial builds, or if you just want to talk (a little or a lot) about aquaponics.

 

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                                Shelby Smallwood                                                     Director of Design/Innovation          

 

 

Shelby has been building (and breaking) things since a young age. He enjoys working with his hands, being outdoors, and experiencing nature. He attended Colorado Mountain College, furthering his abilities as a fabricator and builder, skills well-suited for developing aquaponic systems. With experience and natural mechanical ability, he has been developing and testing aquaponics system designs since 2012.  His ability and (self-professed) obsessive attention to detail ensure that he can be counted on to figure out a way to make things work properly. Additionally, since Shelby outgrew his older brother Kaben at the age of 12, he is also the hands-on brawn and can often be found getting his hands dirty. When he's not creating, Shelby enjoys horticulture, fishing, gardening, spending time outdoors and caring for his bee colonies.

 

If you have technical questions about our aquaponics systems, grow media, system maintenance, or the science that makes aquaponics possible, then Shelby is your man. Contact him at shelby@symbioticaquaponic.com.

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                                  Regina Greuel-Cook (Ph.D)                                              Vice President; Director of Marketing 

 

Regina grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma. As a kid, she spent many summers in her family garden harvesting spiny okra in the heat of July and scratching away the irritation from the spines. While she didn't enjoy harvesting okra, she is thankful for her family garden, the fresh food it provided, and the appreciation for nature that it fostered in her.

 

In addition to her responsibilities of overseeing marketing, outreach, and communication, Regina brings her expertise and knowledge about public health to the company. Regina received her master’s degree in public health in 2010 and her Ph.D. in 2017 from the University of Oklahoma with a focus on obesity and the social determinants of health. She is passionate about improving health and the quality of life through environmental changes. Regina and her husband John Paul live in Norman with their four happy and active toddlers. She enjoys teaching ZUMBA fitness and backpacking in her spare time.  

 

If you're interested in information about speaking engagements, aquaponics seminars/classes, community outreach, and event participation, email Regina. Regina@symbioticaquaponic.com

 

 

 

 

                             

                              Mitchell Sommer

                          System Designer (EIT)

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Mitchell grew up and spent most of his life in Sugar Land, Texas. Throughout his middle school and high school education, he discovered his interests in STEM through the classes he took. Additionally, he developed a love for music with the instruments he learned to play in band such as the French horn and mellophone. Growing up in the suburbs of Houston, Mitchell always enjoyed the occasional trip to the rural land of Sealy, where he could reconnect with nature.

 

In December of 2019, Mitchell graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in mechanical engineering. During his time at UT, he continued pursuing his growth as a musician with his involvement in the Longhorn Marching Band and discovered his passion for sustainability as a member of Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW). In college, he always had a strong desire to improve the world with sustainable engineering through fields like renewable energy and nuclear power, but it was his involvement in ESW that helped him discover his passion for aquaponics. As a dedicated member and leader of the UT Aquaponics project, Mitchell realized the versatility of aquaponics as a teaching tool and the promise it holds to combat large-scale issues such as global food insecurity. In the Summer of 2019, Mitchell worked as an engineering intern for Symbiotic Aquaponic and has been part of the team ever since, now working full time to continue improving the world. He has been with Symbiotic since and currently holds a position as System Designer (EIT). Feel free to email him with any questions regarding the technicalities of aquaponic production or system design! Mitchell@symbioticaquaponic.com

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                                   Kilian Zindel - Intern :)

 

I grew up in Zurich, Switzerland, where I spent a lot of time as a kid in the mountains...hiking, climbing, biking, and going on other outdoor adventures. I am proudly a triple citizen of Switzerland, The Chickasaw Nation, and The United States. My Mom is from Oklahoma and I regularly spent summers here, growing up and visiting my cousins and grandparents. In 4th grade, we moved to Chicago, where I discovered that I really excelled in Math and Science.

After joining my High School FIRST Robotics Team (Team 4500 - Robohounds) I decided to pursue a degree in STEM and am now a 4th year student and Missoui S&T studying Computer Science with minors in Math, Computer Engineering, and Bioinformatics. I have a huge interest in Computational Biology and Evolutionary Computation, I value sustainability and am inspired by innovative approaches to developing a sustainable world.

I like Aquaponics, but I also like growing plants in soil. I am a council member of the Rolla Community Garden and typically grow things like Sunflowers, Lettuce, Bok Choy, Tomatoes, Peppers and the Three Sisters. I previously worked as a Math Tutor at St. Louis Community College, then later started interning at Symbiotic in Summer 2023, and working at my University in a  Lab researching the impacts of sleep. I'm very excited to be re-joining the Symbiotic Team this Summer (2024).