Abby Barrows

Marine Scientist | Microplastics Researcher
Owner/Operator, Deer Isle Oyster Company

“I hope to build, from the moorings up, the first fully plastic-free commercial oyster and seaweed farm. And we aren’t stopping there, we are also redesigning how we power and move both on and off the water. Solar, electric, natural materials and metal-based systems, so that every aspect of our operation lends itself to stewardship.”

Location \ Sites Visited:
Stonington and Deer Isle, ME, USA
Abby’s Home | Abby’s Workshop | Pound in Sunshine | Long Cove Sea Farm
Stonington Opera House | Various Outdoor Areas

Research Status:
Research Complete/ January 21-24, 2026

System(s):
Labor, Trades, & Environmental Resilience
Global Market & Material Systems
State Policy & Infrastructure

Key Organizations / People:
Abigail Barrows

Focus Areas:
Collective action as a component of change; women in traditionally male-dominated fields; women-led solutions to shared global problems; networks; policy impact

Methodological Approach:
Multi-site ethnographic fieldwork; participant observation; semi-structured interviews and informal conversations; comparative, example-based analysis; systems and network analysis; policy-oriented documentation; visual and audio documentation

Ethical Approach:
Research is guided by a trauma-informed, care-based, non-extractive ethic emphasizing consent, collective structures, and community benefit

OVERVIEW

As part of a larger focus on women in aquaculture in the state of Maine, I began my field research with Abigail Barrows. Abby is local to Deer Isle, ME and focused her undergraduate work on marine research. After seeing the extent of the contamination of our waters due to microplastics, she focused her graduate work on microplastics.

She approached Adventure Scientists early in their organizational development about her desire to collect more data on the presence of microplastics in water, and together they launched a Citizen Science effort to collect samples. Abby oversaw the project as the Principal Investigator for what came to be known as the Global Microplastics Initiative. Not only did it grow from about a dozen researchers to approximately 2,000, together they compiled the largest global dataset on every ocean and continent in the world, enabling a rare glimpse at the extent of plastic contamination in remote, understudied ocean and fresh waters.

Abby returned to Maine as a researcher, and with the help of existing community resources and private support, launched Deer Isle Oyster Company in Deer Isle, Maine. She is the owner/operator, which is a rare for women in Maine. Her position as owner/operator allows her to manage a 20-year lease and have full autonomy to grow and manage her business and leverage her brand.

Concerned about the extent to which the aquaculture industry relies on plastic, Abby began developing alternatives to plastic gear and is close to launching the first plastic-free oyster and seaweed farm in the world. Her work has evolved to include the testing of solar and other options that reduce the environmental impact of her work.

Her research and data contribute to policy work. Her engagement in networks and associations is driving education and change in the aquaculture industry, and she is advocating to improve the overall health of our water and food systems, while continuing to mentor young female researchers studying microplastics.

“My vision is to push the boundaries of what it means to run a business in the ocean, to innovate without compromise, and to design with the ocean in mind. As a farmer, a scientist, a mother, and a citizen, I refuse to accept that the ocean must pay the price for our lack of imagination. The oyster doesn’t wait for someone else to clean up the water. It just gets to work. It’s time we did the same. ”

Pre/Post-Visit Research

Documentary Films & Short Documentaries
Antarctica: At the Intersection of Technology and Climate Change
Directed by Mike Libecki. Produced by Dell Technologies, 2022.

No Days Off: Debunking Bio-Plastics
Short documentary. Producer not listed, n.d.

Plastic Contamination: Study Shows Tap Water Contains Bits of Plastic
Documentary news segment. Producer varies by outlet, n.d.

Stories of Impact: World-Class Explorers Help Scientists Collect Elusive Data
Documentary short. Producer not listed, n.d.

There Is No “Away”: Bali to Komodo Island Expedition
Documentary short. Producer not listed, n.d.

Unseen: The Impact of Microplastics on Our Ocean and Ourselves
Produced by Plastic Pollution Coalition, 2018.

We Can Get There From Here: Towards Plastic-Free Oyster Farming Down East
Produced by Patagonia Films, 2024.

Talks, Trailers & Educational Media
Barrows, Abigail. How to Live Like an Oyster
TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch, 2025.

Global Microplastics with Abby Barrows
11 Nov. 2021.

The Human Side of Plastic: Abby Barrows
Trailer, n.d.

Peer-Reviewed Scientific Literature
Barrows, A.P.W., Christiansen, K.S., Bode, E.T., & Hoellein, T.J. (2018).
A watershed-scale, citizen science approach to quantifying microplastic concentration in a mixed land-use river.
Water Research, 147, 382–392.

Barrows, A.P.W., Cathey, S.E., & Petersen, C.W. (2018).
Marine environment microfiber contamination: Global patterns and the diversity of microparticle origins.
Environmental Pollution, 237, 275–284.

Profiles & Narrative Journalism
Down East: The Maine Microplastics Researcher Re-envisioning Aquaculture

Field Notes:

Today was about context and environment.
Drove to Maine from CT and stopped along the way to film and photograph key locations in the local area and get a sense of socio-economic diversity among towns in the area.
Met with Abby in her home and filmed an in-person interview to capture basic information about the arc of her life and work.
Our discussion included the current state of Maine’s working waterfront, issues of concern and priority, as well as how aquaculture fits into the overall marine-based industries relative to fishing, lobstering and clamming.
Second half of the day was spent outdoors at the cold-storage pound in Sunshine and in the area where she keeps her primary boat.
We stopped by her workshop briefly to view her gear and to plan for the next day.
At the pound, Abby showed me the samples of the paints they are testing, as well as how she grows and harvests oysters and kelp.
At the location where she keeps her boat, we reviewed the technology she is developing to reduce the environmental burden of the sea-farming process.
The overall day highlighted her personal and professional story, the direction of her microplastics research and plastic-free aquaculture work, and the resources that enabled her to launch and grow her oyster and seaweed-farming business.
Attended an annual community event Island Women Speak at the Stonington Opera House and heard local women talk about their lives relative to their lived experiences on the islands.
Today began with another home-based interview, with a deeper focus on the communities of which she is a part.
We reviewed her past and present board work, network affiliations and involvement, professional associations and their goals, and how the women in her industry support one another. We focused on where she has been supported in her growth and where she is supporting the growth of others.
The second half of the day was spent primarily in her workshop reviewing the progression of her research and gear design, and we visited the site she just secured a new lease for that she hopes will be the place where she launches a fully plastic-free oyster farm this spring.
Today was another day of area exploration to view the locations of some of the women-owned businesses that help support her oyster-farm business.
Drove back to CT.
Maine was experiencing significant stress due to freezing temperatures, an impending storm, and visits from Immigrations Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the greater Portland, Scarborough, and Lewiston areas.

Key Findings:

Care

Early exposure to marine environments influenced Abby’s future career interests to study and care for marine ecosystems
Desire to study microplastics sparked by visit to Papa New Guinea as she stood among immense amounts of washed-up plastic and grew concerned about the extent of the problem

Collective Action

Collective action through citizen science created the largest global dataset on the extent of plastic contamination in remote, understudied ocean and fresh waters, enabling Abby to further her independent research
Organized resources from the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and women-based loans played a significant role in supporting Abby’s ability to purchase Deer Isle Oyster company. Private funding was still needed, as existing resources only covered basic start-up needs
Abby’s remote location makes it harder for her to receive the benefits of extended support by the aquaculture community, but she is engaging in networks whenever possible to help mentor and support women interested in aquaculture
Abby has collaborated with mycologist Sue Van Hook to test myco buoys along with cork buoys at her Long Cove Sea Farm and collect data on them
She is currently partnering with PROWL Studio, a woman-owned firm in CA, to test safer options for coatings
Women in the aquaculture and hospitality industries are increasing support for each other by cross-marketing their work and businesses

Scale
Being an owner/operator is significant in terms of the amount women can earn in aquaculture. Many women in the fishing and aquaculture industries are part of the value chain in administrative or production roles, but that limits their ability to earn more. As owner, Abby can make decisions about her business that align with her values and also leverage her full personal and professional brand to support greater income generation
Greater income generation has allowed her to purchase additional acreage to support Deer Isle Oyster Company, helping her business to scale
Abby is currently in the role of pioneer in her field, which can be solitary when combined with a remote landscape, but she is slowly building a field of researchers by training and mentoring women researchers and contributing to professional associations and networks to scale up knowledge base

Systemic Impact
Her work to design and develop plastic-free gear is being done primarily to affect the environmental system. However, it will also have secondary benefits to labor and workforce development as she begins to offer options for alternative gear to those in marine-related industries
The expansion of her business is helping to preserve a working waterfront in Maine and employ local citizens
Abby is supporting the growth of women-led businesses by partnering with them on the design and research of new gear
Abby’s work is attracting more widespread media coverage. This is helping to lift up the presence of women in aquaculture and of women in traditionally male-dominated fields in general, while also helping to educate a wider audience on the dangers of microplastics and solutions to reduce the use of plastic
Abby is helping to build knowledge around the danger of microplastics in our food system, while also educating the public about the positive benefits of aquaculture practices to clean and filter our waters
Abby’s engagement with aquaculture and environmental networks is supporting advocacy efforts relative to marine health, working waterfronts, and healthier food systems and her data is available to support various policy research endeavors
Abby’s role as a Board member of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts is helping to inform new initiatives that blend the arts, marine science, and environmental education and support recycling of ghost gear by using it as raw material for art installations