STUDENTS GATHERING sap the old way at Sterling College .
on a comparison of sap yield from 3 / 16 vs . 5 / 16 inch tubing in the Appalachians .
Further south , at the The University of Virginia ’ s College at Wise , Dr . Ryan Huish , an ethnobotanist , engages students in a variety of sap and syrup research activities . Using students in his Field Botany Research course as a core , Dr . Huish has organized the “ Southern Appalachian Maple Research and Activities Team ” with the appropriate acronym SAMaRA . Their aim is to collaborate with maple syrup makers in the Appalachian community to assess the potential of alternative maple species by comparing sugar content , sap volume , and phytochemestry . Ryan engages his students in activities to raise the awareness of maple traditions , ecology , conservation , and socio-economic potential in the Southern Appalachians . Ryan and his students are also collaborators with ACERnet , a federally funded research team investigating the ecological and socio-economical connections of sugar maples and climate .
Interdisciplinary maple programs
Sap and syrup production is by its nature an interdisciplinary activity . Some schools are taking advantage of that to bring together knowledge and skills from many diverse areas of study . Principia College in Elsah Illinois , with 250 trees
Sterling College
tapped , makes a good amount of maple syrup . John Lovseth , the College ’ s forest lands manager , teaches a Sugarbush Management course designed specifically to draw students from across the disciplines . In any given year you can find biology majors measuring trees , dance majors running chainsaws , and history majors bottling syrup .
Nick Baer , Chair of the Natural Science Department at Colby-Sawyer College in central New Hampshire describes their course as “ a wonderful integrated course across our curriculum with graphic design students creating our bottle labels , creative writing students producing poems for the back label , business students con-
18 U . S . Maple Syrup Almanac 2017