{{Short description|American human ecologist and academic administrator}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Darron Collins | office = 6th President of the College of the Atlantic | term_start = 2011 | term_end = June 30, 2024 | predecessor = David F. Hales | successor = Sylvia Torti | birth_name = Darron Asher Collins | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1970}} | birth_place = Morris Plains, New Jersey, U.S. | children = 2 | education = College of the Atlantic (BA) <br> Tulane University (PhD) | occupation = Human ecologist, academic administrator }}
'''Darron Asher Collins''' (born 1970) is an American human ecologist and academic administrator specialized in ethnobotany. He became president of the College of the Atlantic in 2011.
== Life == Collins is from Morris Plains, New Jersey.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Trotter|first=Bill|date=2011-06-14|title=College of the Atlantic names new president|url=http://bangordailynews.com/2011/06/14/news/college-of-the-atlantic-names-new-president/|access-date=2021-09-08|website=Bangor Daily News|language=en-US}}</ref> His grandmother, Josephine Collins (née Flynn), was born in County Roscommon and immigrated to Morristown, New Jersey in May 1928.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|date=2007-10-23|title=Obituary for Josephine Collins (Aged 98)|pages=13|work=Daily Record|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84998260/obituary-for-josephine-collins-aged-98/|access-date=2021-09-09}}</ref> Collins was raised in nearby Parsippany–Troy Hills, New Jersey<ref>[https://www.coa.edu/live/profiles/1248-darron-collins/templates/details/staff.php Darron Collins], College of the Atlantic. Accessed September 8, 2021. "Before COA: I grew up in Parsippany, New Jersey."</ref> and graduated from Parsippany Hills High School in 1988.<ref>Osby, Liv. "[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84997854/ Fellowship offers river of travel]", ''Daily Record'', August 23, 1992. Accessed September 8, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "After living four years on a college campus, Morris Plains native Darron Collins will spend the next 12 months in an outdoor classroom, studying the rivers of Chile, Egypt and New Zealand.... Collins, 22, is a 1988 graduate of Parsippany Hills High School who completed his studies last spring at the College of the Atlantic, a small school in Bar Harbor, Me."</ref> He was awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and graduated from College of the Atlantic in 1992 with his BA in human ecology.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Gold|first=Donna|date=2011|title=COA Announces a New President Darron Collins '92|url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/30115061/coa-announces-a-new-president-darron-collins-92-a-see-|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-08|website=The College of the Atlantic Magazine|language=en|via=yumpu.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908001754/https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/30115061/coa-announces-a-new-president-darron-collins-92-a-see- |archive-date=2021-09-08 }}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=1992-05-02|title=2 COA students receive national fellowships|pages=18|work=The Bangor Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84998160/2-coa-students-receive-national/|access-date=2021-09-09}}</ref> Collins completed a master's degree in Latin American Studies and a Ph.D. in anthropology at Tulane University. During his studies, he researched ethnobotany in Guatemala and became conversant in Qʼeqchiʼ.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-07-17|title=Darron Collins {{!}} President of College of the Atlantic|url=https://www.themainemag.com/darron-collins-president-college-atlantic/|access-date=2021-09-08|website=The Maine Mag|language=en-US}}</ref> His 2001 dissertation was titled ''From Woods to Weeds: Cultural and Ecological Transformations in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Collins|first=Darron Asher|title=From Woods to Weeds: Cultural and Ecological Transformations in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala|date=2001|language=English|oclc=57317101}}</ref> He also wrote and directed the documentary "Amur River Basin: Sanctuary for the Mighty Taimen". Collins is a Barry Goldwater Science Scholar, a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, and a Fellow National of the Explorers Club, reflecting a career marked by both academic excellence and exploratory achievement.<ref name="barharborhistorical.org">https://barharborhistorical.org/darron-collins-bio/</ref>
Before becoming COA's president, Collins spent a decade with the World Wildlife Fund overseeing international conservation projects in the Amazon, Mongolia, and Russian Far East.<ref name="barharborhistorical.org"/>
Collins worked for the World Wide Fund for Nature for ten years, ending as the managing director of creative assets.<ref name=":1" /> He became president of the College of the Atlantic in 2011. Collins is the first COA alumni to hold the position.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Trotter|first=Bill|date=2011-09-06|title=COA head discusses changes, traditions|pages=7|work=The Bangor Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84997954/coa-head-discusses-changes-traditions/|access-date=2021-09-09}}</ref>
Collins lives in Bar Harbor, Maine, with his wife Karen, their two daughters (Maggie and Molly),<ref>https://outercoast.org/board_of_trustees/darron-collins/</ref> and their black lab Lucy. In his free time, he enjoys trail running and fly fishing. He is fluent in both Spanish and Q'eqchi'-Maya<ref name="barharborhistorical.org"/><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Khullar|first=Amanat|date=2015-07-10|title=College president and family climbing 40 peaks in Acadia|url=https://www.acadiavisitor.com/college-president-and-family-climbing-40-peaks-in-acadia/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-08|website=Acadia Visitor|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027032504/https://www.acadiavisitor.com/college-president-and-family-climbing-40-peaks-in-acadia/ |archive-date=2020-10-27 }}</ref> Preceding 2011, Collins resided in Decatur, Georgia.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" />
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Darron}} Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:College of the Atlantic alumni Category:Tulane University alumni Category:American ecologists Category:Parsippany Hills High School alumni Category:People from Morris Plains, New Jersey Category:People from Parsippany–Troy Hills, New Jersey Category:Scientists from Morris County, New Jersey Category:College of the Atlantic faculty Category:Human ecologists Category:American ethnobotanists Category:American anthropologists Category:21st-century American biologists Category:American people of Irish descent