Darron Collins

Darron Collins became College of the Atlantic’s 7th president in July 2011. He received his BA in human ecology from COA in 1992 and also holds a PhD in anthropology from Tulane University.

Prior to becoming COA’s president, Collins spent ten years managing international conservation projects in the Amazon, Mongolia, and the Russian Far East with World Wildlife Fund.

Collins has conducted ethnobotanical research among the Q’eqchi’-Maya (pronounced KECK CHI) of Guatemala, investigative reporting of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, and written and directed the award- winning documentary, “Amur River Basin: Sanctuary for the Mighty Taimen” (pronounced, TAY-men). He is a Barry Goldwater Science Scholar, a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, and a Fellow National of The Explorers Club.

A native of Morris Plains, New Jersey, Collins is fluent in Spanish and Q’eqchi’-Maya. He is an avid fly-fisherman and trail runner. Darron lives in Bar Harbor, Maine with his wife, Karen, their two daughters, and a black lab, Lucy.