Tora Johnson

Director, Sustainable Prosperity Initiative, Sunrise County Economic Council

Research Interests

  • Community resilience
  • Political conflicts over natural resources
  • Uses of maps in decision-making

Degrees

  • M.Phil., College of the Atlantic
  • B.S., University of Oregon
  • Ph.D., University of Maine

Awards and Honors:

  • Faculty Inductee, Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society, 2022
  • University of Maine Pen Award for volunteer work with the 4-H Program involving college student interns in youth activities, 2017
  • Maine Campus Compact Donald Harward Faculty Award for Service Learning Excellence, 2016
  • Maine State Legislature Legislative Sentiment in Recognition of Service to Downeast Maine, 2015
  • National Geospatial Technology Center of Excellence Lifetime Achievement Award, 2015
  • Maine Association of Planners Project of the Year with Judy East, 2014
  • Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Assoc. Project of the Year, with Judy East, 2014
  • Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers list for fall, 2005

Profile:

Tora Johnson is the director of the Sustainable Prosperity Initiative. A social scientist and geographer, Tora has a master’s degree in human ecology from College of the Atlantic and a PhD in human dimensions of natural resources from the University of Maine. Her work focuses on supporting resilience and economic development, sustainable fisheries, local and regional planning, and dignity-centered community engagement. Before becoming a mom in 1996, Dr. Johnson made a career of teaching and crewing aboard several of the large sailing vessels that ply the coast of New England, as well as commercial fishing in Alaska. She worked in academia beginning in 1996, serving from 2004 to 2023 on the faculty at the University of Maine at Machias where she is now a professor emeritus. She is an external graduate faculty member with the School of Forest Resources and an external faculty associate with the George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine.

Dr. Johnson’s current human ecological research focuses on community resilience, political conflicts over natural resources and the uses of maps in decision-making. Her work focuses on supporting sustainable and prosperous rural communities in a changing world. Centering on dignity as a guiding principle, she utilizes best practices for resolving conflict and engaging diverse people in productive decision making. In service projects through the UMM GIS Service Center and the Downeast Health Research Collaborative, Dr. Johnson and her students work with local towns, organizations and businesses to conserve Downeast Maine’s natural resources and plan for a prosperous, healthy and sustainable future. She has collaborated with installation artists and sculptors on community-based and place-based installation art projects.

Also a writer, Dr. Johnson’s award-winning book, Entanglements: The Intertwined Fates of Whales and Fishermen, was released in 2005. She was the marine reporter for the Martha’s Vineyard Times from 1998 to 2000. In addition to columns and feature articles for magazines and newspapers, she has published the Guide to Freshwater Animals without Backbones (with Arlene De Strulle; The Catskill Center, 1997).

Selected Publications

Johnson, Tora, Katherine Weatherford Darling, Debra Kantor, Joseph Spiller, Oliver G. Jones, Lois-Ann Kuntz, Tara Casimir, Amy Dowley, Greyson Kurtz, Lauren Sachs, Linda Silka, and Bridie McGreavy. “Understanding Occupational Injury and Substance Use Issues among Workers in the Shellfish and Lobster Industries.” Maine Policy Review 32.2 (2023) : 155-164.

Johnson, Tora. “Endangered Whales Still Get Tangled in Fishing Gear: Let’s Change the Way We Approach the Problem.” Maine Policy Review 32.2 (2023) : 46-49.

Cammen, K., Marafino, G., Burton, S., Dow, J., Dullaert, E., Jorge, M., Macolini, K., McGarry, L., Tremblay, C., Jansujwicz, J., Johnson, T., Ross, L., Zydlewski, G. (2021) Interdisciplinary research collaborative trains students to see through turbulent systems. Oceanography.

Sylvan Johnson, Eileen, Esperanza Stancioff, Tora Johnson, Sarena Sabine, Haley Maurice and Claire Reboussin. (2019) “Preparing for a Changing Climate: The State of Adaptation Planning in Maine’s Coastal Communities.” Maine Policy Review.

Evans, Keith & Athearn, Kevin & Chen, Xuan & Bell, Kathleen & Johnson, Tora. (2016). Measuring the impact of pollution closures on commercial shellfish harvest: The case of soft-shell clams in Machias Bay, Maine. Ocean & Coastal Management. 130. 196-204. 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.06.005.

Stapp, Jared & Upadhaya, Suraj & Johnson, Tora. (2016). Evaluating the Impacts of Forest Management Policies and Community- Level Institutions in the Buffer Zone of Chitwan National Park, Nepal.