Abigail Franklin Archer: “Tracking the Town Brook Travelers”

This past September, the final major step in the nearly 16-year project to restore Plymouth’s historic Town Brook began: the removal of the Holmes Dam. Through this period, Abigail has tracked the river herring moving through the brook both before and after the dame removal. She’ll share the findings of her research with us, along with pictures and anecdotes from her study.

Abigail Franklin Archer works as an Extension Agent and Marine Resource Specialist for two entities with shared goals; the Barnstable County Cape Cod Cooperative Extension Marine Program and Woods Hole Sea Grant. She works with shellfish growers, municipal natural resource managers, shellfish constables and river herring wardens to carry out monitoring and scientific research projects that answer their questions about marine resources. As a volunteer she serves on the Town of Brewster Coastal Committee and is working with her fellow members to help the town plan for the effects of sea level rise.

Abigail earned a Bachelor of Arts in Natural Science and Dance from Hampshire College in 2002 and a Masters of Science in Wildlife & Fisheries Conservation from University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2009.  In 2009 she served as a Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellow at NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, Domestic Division.