Abigail Barrows

Abigail P. W. Barrows (born 1984) is a marine research scientist at Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation. Starting in 2012, Barrows directed microplastics research and initiated the first baseline data map of microplastic pollution distribution in the waters off the coast of Maine. She went on to use this research to help push through legislation to reduce plastic consumption.
Early life and education.
Barrows grew up in Stonington, Maine, a town on the island of Deer Isle, off the coast of Maine. She participated in Hurricane Island, Outward Bound USA school at the age of sixteen. Barrows graduated in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in zoology with a focus on marine biology from the University of Tasmania, Australia. After returning to Stonington, Maine, Barrows completed her master's degree in microplastics from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine in 2018.
Life and career.
Barrows' biological studies led her to travel much of the world including Papua New Guinea, the Himalaya, and South and Central America. She later focused her studies on microplastics, having recognized plastic pollution as a global issue.
Barrows directed global microplastic pollution research from 2013–2017, and consequently published research in collaboration with the Shaw Institute. She works with Adventure Scientists, an organization that links researchers with outdoorsmen and women. This collaboration yielded the largest known and most diverse microplastics dataset as of 2019.