Faculty

My training is in environmental anthropology and my research explores human-environment interactions within agriculture, particularly the ways in which social and political conditions influence on-farm practices. My doctoral dissertation examined farmers’ adoption of pollinator conservation practices in the lowbush blueberry industries of Maine and Prince Edward Island (PEI). In collaboration with a team of interdisciplinary researchers, I examined how farmers adapt their pollination management practices in the face of declining bee populations.

In 2017, I began a research project in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Maine. This project, Finding the Sweet Spot, is funded by a USDA-AFRI grant and examines the scale challenges and opportunities for beekeeping and maple syrup production in Maine. As part of this project, we train undergraduate students in stakeholder-driven research through the Sustainable Food Systems Research Collaborative (SFSRC). 

When not in the classroom, you can find me gardening, baking, playing with bees, or exploring the beautiful mountains of Maine with my husband, Patrick Lyons, and our son, Jack Grizzly.

• Board Member, Bar Harbor Food Pantry, 2022-present
• Member, Hancock County Food Security Network, 2022-present
• Partner, MDI Food Access Project, 2020-present
• Advisory Council Member, Downeast Restorative Harvest Project, 2022-present
• Secretary, Heart of Ellsworth, 2020-2022
• Secretary-Treasurer, Culture & Agriculture section of the American Anthropological Association, 2017–2019
• Technical Committee Member, Northeast SARE, 2016–2021
• Volunteer, Master Gardener Program, 2011–2020

• 2016 College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Outstanding Graduate Student Award, University of Maine
• 2015 College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Excellence in Research and Creative Activity Award, University of Maine
• 2013 Maine Studies Graduate Student Research and Creativity Award, University of Maine
• 2012 School of Forest Resources Distinguished Service Award, University of Maine
• 2009 Presidential Scholar Award, Department of Anthropology, Western Michigan University
• 2007 AmeriCorps Education Award

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Velardi, S., Leahy, J., Collum, K., McGuire, J., and Ladenheim, M. (2023) Size and Scope Decisions of Maine Maple Syrup Producers: A Qualitative Application of Theory of Planned Behavior. Trees, Forests, and People.

• Collum, Kourtney, Samuel Hanes, Francis Drummond, and Jessica Leahy. (2023) “We’re Farmers, Not Beekeepers:” A Cultural Model of Pollination Management among Lowbush Blueberry Growers in the United States and Canada. Human Organization 82(2).

• Velardi, S., Leahy, J., Collum, K., Ladenheim, M., and McGuire, J. (2021) “You Treat Them Right, They’ll Treat You Right:” Understanding Beekeepers’ Scale Management Decisions within the Context of Bee Values. Journal of Rural Studies 81.

• Velardi, S., Leahy, J., Collum, K., Ladenheim, M., and McGuire, J. (2020) Adult learning theory principles in knowledge exchange networks among maple syrup producers and beekeepers in Maine. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension DOI: 10.1080/1389224X.2020.1773283.

• Hanes, Samuel P., Kourtney K. Collum, Aaron K. Hoshide & Francis Drummond. (2018) Assessing Wild Pollinators in Conventional Agriculture: A Case Study from Maine, USA’s Blueberry Industry. Human Ecology Review 24(1).

• Collum, Kourtney K. & John J. Daigle.  (2015). Combining Attitude Theory and Segmentation Analysis to Understand Travel Mode Choice at a National Park.  Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism 9:17-25. 

• Boston, P. Qasimah, M. Miaisha Mitchell, Kourtney K. Collum & Lance Gravelee.  (2015). Community Engagement and Health Equity.  Practicing Anthropology 37(4):28-32.

• Jessee, Nathan, Kourtney K. Collum, & Richard D. Schulterbrandt Gragg.  (2015). Community-based Participatory Research: Challenging ‘Lone Ethnographer’ Anthropology in the Community and the Classroom.  Practicing Anthropology 37(4):9-13.

• Hanes, Samuel, Kourtney K. Collum, Aaron Hoshide, & Eric Asare.  (2013). Grower Perceptions of Native Pollinators and Pollination Strategies in the Lowbush Blueberry Industry.  Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 28(4):1-8.

Book Chapters

• Collum, Kourtney K. & John J. Daigle.  (2015). The Shift from Automobiles to Alternatives: The Role of Intelligent Transportation Systems.  In Sustainable Transportation in Natural and Protected Areas. Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group.  Edited by Francesco Orsi.