Maple is an incredibly local and tangible touchpoint to teach people about sustainability. We use maple-themed STEM modules to teach K-12 groups about how research experiments are designed and how scientific hypotheses are tested. In Ohio State’s undergraduate curriculum, a Sustainability GE-theme course “Maple: A Sweet Taste of the Past, Present & Future” is available to University students every spring semester. Maple Madness is just one of many annual events where people unite around the delicious taste of maple to learn more about maple.
Ecolab and Maple
A Maple Boot Camp attendee learns how to properly install a maple tubing system.
Ohio State maple syrup can be purchased on the Woodland Stewards website, and sales help fund student Ecolab fellowships.
Vacuum chambers measure an individual maple tree’s daily sap yield for a research project.
Retired Program Director of Forestry Extension Kathy Smith explains how an evaporator boils maple sap at the maple pavilion.
Brutus enjoying a drink of Ohio State maple syrup before a Buckeye Preview Day!
Dr. Amy Brunell helps kick off maple season with a precision tapping drill in hand.
Students brave the cold to install a new line of vacuum tubing in the maple sugarbush.
Maple production in Ohio has a strong legacy that is centuries old. Early evaporator prototypes were invented by a Mansfield native back in the 1800s , and expanding maple knowledge continues today at the Ohio State Mansfield campus. A USDA grant funded 3 years of field data collection to compare sugar maples to a little understood hybrid between red X silver maples, termed “rilver” maple for short. The study clearly demonstrated that the hybrid maples were viable options for maple syruping, and the old adage “the only maple worth tapping is a sugar maple” was soundly debunked. The 19-acre campus sugarbush continues to be a testbed for research and teaching today.
The delivery of research directly to maple producers is the epitome of the University’s Extension mission. The 19-acre campus sugarbush provides a venue to engage rookie and veteran maple producers alike. Coupled with indoor classroom facilities and an on-site outdoor maple pavilion, Ohio State Mansfield is uniquely positioned to be a Midwest leader for maple education into the future. Jake Nicholson, an Extension specialist, with a half-time maple appointment is busy leading maple syrup quality workshops and visiting maple producers. In-service trainings empower natural resource professionals around the state to be maple advocates, and Ohio Maple Days and Boot Camp events provide deep-dive explorations for the maple curious at every experience level.
Ohio State Maple Syrup can be purchased on the Woodland Stewards website, and proceeds support year-round student Ecolab fellowships. The Ohio State Maple Site provides frequent updates on the Ohio State Mansfield sugarbush, announcements about upcoming maple events and workshops, and technical articles detailing the latest and greatest in maple best practices. The Maple Toolbox is full of resources and tools to help prospective maple producers make informed decisions as they launch their own operations. The Ohio State Alumni magazine ran a 2025 feature article on the maple program’s “Sweet Work”, and you can read more about the Ecolab’s impact there!