Virginia Shaffer is a Maryland Eastern Shore native who grew up with a deep appreciation for life along the water. After a successful decade as a top saleswoman at Flight Centre Travel Group, a $20 billion dollar corporation, she turned her passion for oysters into a national platform for the shellfish industry through her website, Lady Oyster, which is followed by thousands of people. In 2023, Virginia joined the oyster ranks by launching a gastronomic tourism business in Maine that invites curious seafood lovers to experience shellfish authentically at the source.

Virginia has written about shellfish for over seven years and has been featured in publications and media including Edible, Good Grit, Post and Courier magazine, and WCVB Boston Chronicle. She judged the Damariscotta Oyster Celebration’s chef competition alongside Maine’s Governor Janet Mills in 2019, and has volunteered on the program advisory committee for the Northeast Maritime Institute’s Restorative Aquaculture Program. Virginia is a proud member of the Seafood and Gender Equality’s Bloom network, and serves as a Friend of the Shellfish Growers Climate Coalition, a division of The Nature Conservancy.

Virginia has a B.A. in International Studies from American University in Washington, D.C., and holds a certificate in Gastronomic Tourism from Le Cordon Bleu. Virginia is currently based in Bath with her husband, Warwick. In her spare time, she hosts oyster nights, gets her hands dirty in her garden, and chases after her two dogs and pesky cat.

Warwick and I are proud to take part in the Maine oyster community, which is a pioneering place for shellsifh aquaculture and eco-tourism in the United States. Alongside our friends in aquaculture and culinary spheres, we're building experiences that introduce everyday people to the power of sea farming.