Faculty Directory
Academics at Fort Lewis College

About Dr. Kathleen Hilimire

Dr. Hilimire is an associate professor in the Department of Environment and Sustainability and coordinator of the Regenerative Food Systems certificate. Her recent teaching and research follow two paths. One investigates the landscape of energy transitions, exploring critical minerals and environment. The second is focused on water conservation in agriculture. During a research sabbatical in 2023, she studied dry farming and visited farms in the Four Corners, California, and Spain. Her work has received support from the Sloan Foundation, National Science Foundation (Grant no. 2120722), Native American Agriculture Fund, National Institute of Food and Agriculture at the USDA (2012-01320), Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education at the USDA (GW11-001), and more. Trained as an interdisciplinary agroecologist, Dr. Hilimire has conducted research and published in both the natural and social sciences. She has a PhD in Environmental Studies from University of California at Santa Cruz.

Dr. Hilimire has worked with FLC collaborators Beth LaShell, Keri Brandt-Off, Rebecca Clausen, Deanne Grant, and Elicia Whittlesey to receive several rounds of funding from the Native American Agriculture Fund. These awards have directly supported students aspiring to futures in food systems, and the grants have also provided support to innovate new learning practices and spaces at Fort Lewis College and the Old Fort at Hesperus.
 

Selected publications

• Hilimire K., Clausen B., Larkins M., and Williams J. 2025. Relational Teaching and Just Energy Transitions. Case Studies in the Environment 9(1): 2455669.
• Hilimire K., Schnitker C. 2020. The real meal deal: assessing student preferences for “real food” at Fort Lewis College. Agriculture and Human Values, 37(4), 1073-1081.
• Hilimire K. 2019. Water conservation behaviors among beginning farmers in the western United States. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 74(2):138-144.

Awards and highlights

• 2024-2027. Sites of Acceptance or Contestation: Sociotechnical Analysis of Domestic Cobalt-Nickel Mining-Refining. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
• 2024-2026. Land Access and Agricultural Training for Native Producers. Native American Agriculture Fund.
• 2021-2026. Responsible Critical Elements: Transforming Earth Resource Development for a Carbon-Neutral Future. National Science Foundation Growing Convergence Research. (Grant no. 2120722).
• 2023-2025. Creating Pathways to Farming and Ranching through Seasonal Training. Native American Agriculture Fund.
• 2021-2023. Growing Agricultural Training and Land Access for Beginning Farmers. Native American Agriculture Fund.
• 2020-2022. Fort Lewis College Educational and Entrepreneurial Support for Native American Farmers and Food Champions. Native American Agriculture Fund.