Alumni Profile

Roland Barnaby ’63

Roland and Linda Barnaby met as students at Plymouth State

In the 1990s, environmentalists squared off against New England commercial fishermen over the practice of gillnetting, the capture of fish using large vertical nets. The nets were trapping more than the fish they were targeting; they were also catching and killing harbor porpoises.

Enter Roland Barnaby, an educator in the University of New Hampshire’s Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant Program. “As an extension educator, I would help commercial fisherman identify needs and issues,” explains Barnaby. “Then I’d bring those concerns to the university research community, hopefully solve the problem, and bring the results back to the fishing community.”

In the case of gillnetting, Barnaby collaborated with a researcher in Newfoundland to develop a “pinger,” a device that emits a low-decibel sound audible to porpoises within at least 100 meters, warning them of the danger that lies ahead. After testing by New Hampshire fishermen ensured that they worked, the pingers were implemented, and they’re still in use today. “I tried to bring people together, because fishing issues can be very contentious and emotional,” Barnaby notes. “Getting commercial fishermen, scientists, fisheries managers, and environmentalists to work together is a real challenge, but the results can be exciting when it works.”

Barnaby’s work drew on two of his longtime interests: education and fishing. After graduating from Plymouth Teachers College with an education degree in 1963, he says, “I spent five years teaching in public schools, 10 years teaching at a small private college, 10 years as a commercial fisherman, and then the last 20 years combining my teaching background and fisheries experience in extension work.”

According to Barnaby, it was Plymouth State that spurred his interest in and reverence for education. “I wasn’t encouraged by my family to go to college, and I wasn’t a very good student in high school. But Plymouth State said to me, ‘You deserve an opportunity.’ The doors it opened were unbelievable; not just for me, but for other folks I knew. It helped me recognize how important education is.”

His time at Plymouth State made an indelible mark on his personal life, too: it’s where he met his wife, Linda. Together, they are part of a multi-generational link between their family and the University: “Linda’s mother graduated from Plymouth Normal School, I graduated from Plymouth Teachers College, Linda graduated from Plymouth State College, and our daughter was in the University’s first graduating class.”

Now that he’s retired, Barnaby plans on spending more of his time on terra firma. “I plan to continue my work on the Cannon Mountain ski patrol and do some volunteering or join some committees,” he says. But his interest in the sea remains: he continues to serve on the board of the North Atlantic Marine Alliance, an organization dedicated to restoring and enhancing the North Atlantic marine system.

Rhiannon Hutchinson is a freelance writer based in Windsor, VT.