The Official U.S. Maple Syrup Almanac -- 2017 Alamanc_2017 | Page 17

chemistry of running an evaporator. As
a forest dependent activity, it is natural to
find forestry students interested in sugar-
ing. However, if you look a little further,
you can find that there is a lot more edu-
cation to be had out of maple.
At Alfred University, Alfred NY, Pro-
fessor Laurie McFadden offers an hon-
ors course titled: Maple Syrup The Real
Thing. With 30 to 60 trees tapped each
year, students do get experience with a
drill. However, syrup making is not the
sole class goal. Students in Laurie’s class
explore topics such as U.S. and local his-
tory, environmental science, business and
economics, storytelling, and biology. She
explains that in addition to the class-
room learning, students get a chance to
explore the outdoors, learn more about
their local community by visiting sugar-
ing operations, understand the cultural
and economic importance of maple syrup
to peoples lives and, of course, eat many
delicious foods. Laurie is proud of the
distinction her course gained by being
listed in Buzzfeed’s 2013 list of “23 Awe-
somely Weird College Classes to Enroll
in Immediately.” She recruits students
with a course description that starts out:
“Wanted: Someone with a background in
meteorology, chemistry, botany, forestry,
art, and cookery who is also a nature lover
with lots of patience. Must enjoy long
hours of hard work in the snow, cold, and
mud.” That sounds like an awesomely
weird maple course to me.
Stop by the campus of the Culinary
Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park
New York on a warm late winter morn-
ing and you will hear sap dripping there
as well. Dr. Deirdre Murphy has stu-
dents in her Ecology of Food course
drilling holes and hanging buckets, and
Chef Peter Greweling takes the sap into
his Chocolate and Confectionery Tech-
U.S. Maple Syrup Almanac
2017
CIA/Phil Mansfield
CHEF PETER GREWELING of the Culinary Institute of America, giving tapping
instructions to a student.
nology and Techniques course where the
students make maple syrup, and then
keep on going. From tree to table, CIA
students are using maple to study ecol-
ogy, culture, food chemistry, and learn
the practical skills of turning maple syrup
into maple delicacies.
Dr. Tara L. Bal at Michigan Tech in
Houghton Michigan offers an online
course titled: Maple Syrup Management
and Culture. Now lest you think we
are talking about making virtual maple
syrup, this online course comes with
required time emptying buckets and
stoking the evaporator. Tara says it is
“the first course in the School to fill-up”
at registration. Students run a com-
munity-sugaring project in the nearby
village of Alberta. With Alberta pret-
ty much tapped out, they are working
toward expanding into the University’s
Ford Research Forest. Building culture
into the course, Dr. Bal has students work
with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Com-
munity at their Winter Youth Culture
Camp, where they demonstrate tradi-
tional and modern ways of evaporating
sap to syrup and sugar. Acknowledging
the Ojibwe as the original sugar makers
in the region incorporates different cul-
tural perspectives to the class, and creates
an inclusive environment that leads to a
greater understanding and appreciation
for this ancient tradition.
Engaging students
in maple research
The Proctor Maple Research Lab at the
University of Vermont and the research
and extension work done by Cornell are
invaluable to our understanding of tree
biology and syrup production. However,
there are other universities as well work-
ing to expand our knowledge of sap and
syrup.
At WVU Dr. Jamie Schuler’s under-
graduate students and graduate research
assistants, are studying the chemical com-
position of sap from maple trees grown
on abandoned mining sites, and working
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