40 Under 40: Ariadne Dimoula is making waves as an ocean researcher and entrepreneur
PHOTO / Tim Greenway
Ocean researcher Ariadne Dimoula is the founder and CEO of Paramount Planet Product.
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Significant professional accomplishment: Being awarded the National Science Foundation Phase II Small Business Innovative Research Award, a $1 million award.
Current state of mind: Grateful and determined.
Passion project: I am a principal investigator for an international underwater ocean research study that integrates academic students into launching ocean research tools that record ocean currents.
I love Surfrider Foundation, a national group whose members promote beach cleanups, beach access for all and plastic-free protection; I am a longtime member of the Maine chapter and avid supporter and previous executive board member.
‘Lightbulb’ moment: My first memory of thinking about redesigning waste was at a swimming spot, called the Rope Swings, along the Stillwater River in Old Town. I was about 8 when I noticed wrappers from the nearby fast-food joints littering that area along the river. I asked my mom, a pulp and paper engineer, if we could lace seeds into the packaging to grow plants.
At that time, it seemed too expensive because plastic is so cheap and works so well. Years later the prevalence of plastic causing environmental destruction started to become apparent to the public.
On a sailing trip to Bermuda, I learned that plastic is in every scoop of sand and around the globe, even in ice that is unfrozen for a day. Months later, on a scuba trip in Cozumel, Mexico, I noticed the families there were traveling hundreds to thousands of miles to see sea turtles, and also enjoy coconuts or tropical drinks on the beach drinking through plastic straws, literally accidentally causing harm to the very creature they traveled so far to see. The tourists were starting to realize this irony, too.
This was in late 2016, and it is when I circled back to my mother, and we started to look into alternative plant-based materials for packaging and funding opportunities.
Audacious goal: Walk into any convenience store, coffee shop, hotel, restaurant, bar, cafeteria, anywhere around the world, and see only ocean-compostable, fish-friendly verified single-use packaging products.
Favorite quotes: The Lakota phrase, “Mní wičhóni” (“Water is life”) and “There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
Influential book: “The Mindfulness Survival Kit,” by Thich Nhat Hanh
Favorite movies: “Legally Blonde 2” and “Some Like It Hot”
Best way to recharge: Outside and on water, or just walking in the woods with my pups. In the winter I love to go skiing.
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