College of the Atlantic professor Kourtney Collum, left, with Finding the Sweet Spot summer fellows Hannah Williams ’21 and Adele Wise ’21, and UMaine postdoctoral research associate Sara Velardi. The students are undertaking eight-week research projects on the maple syrup and honey industries in Maine. Credit: Yoi Ashida ’20
Finding the Sweet Spot: Scale Challenges and Opportunities for Beekeeping and Maple Syrup Production in Maine is a collaboration between College of the Atlantic and University of Maine (UMO), awarding paid, eight-week student research fellowships.
Qomaruliati Setiawati ’20, Adele Wise ’21, and Hannah Williams ’21 of COA are working with small- and medium-scale producers to develop and conduct research 
Sweet Spot fellows and program leaders gather on COA Peggy Rockefeller Farms to examine honeybee hives. Credit: Yoi Ashida ’20on beekeeping or maple syrup production. Student projects can focus on the environmental, social, historical, or economic dimensions of both industries.
“I want to do something that will help bees stay warm and happy,” Williams said. “I hope to create a relatively simple and cost-effective design that can be built, tested, and then re-created and implemented across the state of Maine and maybe beyond. The Passive Hive is an idea in its infancy, and I hope it will take off and do some good in as many places as possible.”
Williams is using the German passive house concept to design beehives that survive better in cold climates, while Setiawati conducts a cost of production study for the two industries and Wise examines labor issues.
“We’re not just teaching research methods, but introducing students to applied, stakeholder-driven research that can help producers transform knowledge to action,” said Dr. Kourtney Collum, COA Partridge Chair in Food and Sustainable Agriculture Systems. “The students’ research questions are co-developed by producers so they get to tap into their knowledge and gather information that will help solve pressing industry problems.”
The Sweet Spot fellowships are supported through the Sustainable Food Systems Research Collaborative (SFSRC), a joint initiative between UMO and COA.
Finding the Sweet Spot is an applied-research collaboration between University of Maine and College of the Atlantic. Credit: Yoi Ashida ’20“It almost has the feeling of a Master’s program,” said Collum. “This year we’re supporting eight fellows—three from COA, four from UMO, and one from Western Washington University. Each week, students work on literature reviews and proposals, attend all-team meetings and field trips, and receive feedback from faculty and producer mentors.”
The projects aim to offer important practical applications, Collum said. By supporting small- and medium-scale beekeepers and maple syrup producers, the student fellows are helping Maine businesses become more viable and achieve the scale they desire.
“Maine producers have real expertise and networks of connections students often can’t easily tap into,” Collum said. “Through the SFSRC, we can introduce 
Maine's honey industry is worth $2 million annually, according to the USDA's 2019 Northeaster Region Annual Honey Report. Credit: Yoi Ashida ’20producers to amazing students and vice versa. These students have the opportunity to dig deeply into something they really care about while helping local maple and honey producers. It’s a great thing.”
Wise said that her drive to examine labor issues stems from her interest in the social aspects of the maple syrup industry.
“I have repeatedly been drawn to food, how it’s produced and distributed, and the social and cultural systems that are incorporated within these areas,” Wise said. “This project really stood out to me since I have been a part of and seen the traditions of maple syrup production in Maine for basically all of my life. This fellowship is a really great way to bring both awareness and support to these small-scale operations that are so valuable to Maine’s identity and economy.”
Finding the Sweet Spot is a three-year, $500,000 program funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative and led by Drs. Jessica Leahy, Sara Velardi, Melissa Ladenheim, and Julia McGuire of UMO, and Dr. Collum of COA.
