Tim Waring

Dr. Tim Waring is an Associate Professor of Social-Ecological Systems Modeling at the University of Maine's School of Economics and a core faculty member of the Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions. His research focuses on how social norms, institutions, and cooperative behaviors evolve in response to ecological and social pressures to create sustainable systems. He leads an international research network applying cultural evolution and cooperation science to sustainability challenges, particularly in local food economies and agricultural institutions.

Waring's work integrates evolutionary theory, behavioral experiments, and agent-based modeling to explore connections between cooperation and sustainable resource management. Key projects include studying Maine's lobstering communities, blueberry industry institutions, and food buying clubs. He teaches courses like Evolutionary Economics and Agent-Based Modeling, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to complex systems.

His research highlights cooperative dynamics in social-ecological systems, showing how institutions like co-operatives stabilize cooperation through design principles such as clear boundaries and graduated sanctions. Ongoing projects include analyzing network structures in food buying clubs and developing tools to measure prosocial behaviors in sustainability contexts.

Waring collaborates with organizations like Buying Club Software and the National Cooperative Grocers Association, translating academic findings into practical strategies for strengthening local food systems. His work bridges theory and practice, aiming to create actionable frameworks for building resilient and just societies.