Kourtney Collum

Outside of campus, I try to spend as much time as possible gardening, baking, and exploring the beautiful mountains and waters of Maine with my husband, son, and our semi-feral dog, Bruce. Our cat has no interest in joining. 

Course Areas

Farm & Food Policy, Food Sovereignty and Justice

• PhD, Anthropology and Environmental Policy, University of Maine
• MS, Forest Resources, University of Maine
• BS, Anthropology and Environmental Studies, Western Michigan University

My scholarship focuses on food systems, particularly the ways in which political and economic conditions shape possibilities for farmers, eaters, and food systems workers. I’m interested in the power of collectives to envision and bring to fruition just and sustainable futures. 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. My current work focuses on student and community food insecurity, food sovereignty, and prison food systems.

• Vice Chair, Bar Harbor Food Pantry, 2022-present
• Member, Hancock County Food Security Network, 2022-present
• Advisory Council Member, Downeast Restorative Harvest Project, 2022-present
• 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

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.