Michael Haedicke

As a sociologist, Michael Haedicke uses qualitative research methods and historical analysis to study the governance of environmental resources and food systems. He is the author of the book Organizing Organic: Conflict and Compromise in an Emerging Market (Stanford University Press, 2016) and his writing has also appeared in academic journals, edited scholarly volumes, and mainstream news sources. Dr. Haedicke’s current research examines the politics of coastal wetlands restoration and climate change adaptation in southern Louisiana. As part of an interdisciplinary research team at the University of Maine, he is also part of a grant-funded effort to model policy outcomes related to circular economies in Maine and elsewhere.

Dr. Haedicke teaches core and elective courses in the Sociology and Criminal Justice programs, including courses about social research design and sociological theory, food systems and social change, environmental sociology, and protest and social control. He also teaches courses in the UMaine Honors College as the inaugural Dr. Bernard S. Lown Honors College Professor (2025-2027) and has served on several undergraduate and graduate thesis committees.

Dr. Haedicke is active in a variety of professional associations and working groups. He serves as the President of the Midwest Sociological Society (2026-2027) and as the Secretary of the Environmental Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association (2024-2027) and participates in the PFAS Project Lab, a national collaborative based at Northeastern University and in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture of the Middle working group.