Abby Barrows MPhil ’18 traveled to Indonesia to study the area's accumulation of microplastics.Abby Barrows MPhil ’18 traveled to Indonesia to study the area's accumulation of microplastics. Credit: Dianna Cohen via National Geographic

The Oceanic Society Expedition recently spent 10 days traveling by boat from Bali to Komodo to explore the impact of plastic pollution in this region. They invited Adventure Scientist’s Microplastics Researcher and College of the Atlantic Master’s student Abby Barrows MPhil ’18 to join a curated group of activists, artists, NGO directors, philanthropists and media from around the world to witness and document the extent of plastic pollution firsthand.

“I’m acutely aware of the plastic problem from a scientific standpoint,” says Abby. “But it’s different when you see gorgeous beaches filled with candy wrappers or plastic bottles, and realize that we haven’t seen a village in two days.”

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