Nicolette Fenello, left, and Bailey Heaton, Slippery Rock University students who work at Growing Together Aquaponics, point out the different herbs and lettuces they are growing to Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding on Monday. Redding toured the site near Slippery Rock, which employs young people with disabilities.

SLIPPERY ROCK — Nicolette Fenello, a Slippery Rock University junior, described on Monday her work at Growing Together Aquaponics to the state's secretary of agriculture, Russell Redding, who hung on her every word.

Fenello, a Seneca Valley graduate, is a member of Rock Life, a university program that provides a fully inclusive college experience to students with intellectual or other disabilities.

Fenello, who has Down syndrome, deftly explained the process of turning the waste of a large tank of tilapia into plant food that is cycled via tubes of water through the roots of racks and racks of lettuce and other edibles.

Redding was fascinated with the new method of providing locally sourced food to restaurants in the area.

Redding and others from the Department of Agriculture visited Growing Together Aquaponics on Monday as part of the department's Planting the Seed Tour.

Read more about the tour and Growing Together Aquaponics in Tuesday's Butler Eagle.