Wednesday, September 20, Noon to 1:00 p.m.
Maple syrup production is highly dependent on climate and weather conditions. Nights below freezing and days around 40 degrees Fahrenheit provide the ideal conditions for collecting the trees’ sap—so as winter temperatures rise, maple syrup seasons are moving earlier in the year and are often shorter than in the past. Other aspects of the changing climate, such as more frequent summer droughts and conditions more favorable to invasive species, can also hamper maple syrup production.
To help producers adapt their forest management practices, uses of sap collection and boiling equipment, and business plans, the Wisconsin Extension Maple Syrup Program developed a climate change adaptation menu for maple syrup producers in the Upper Midwest. After giving a brief overview of the maple syrup production process, Scott will discuss how climatic trends translate into impacts on maple trees and syrup production and highlight the many actions producers can take to adapt. He will then discuss how climate adaptation and communication professionals can develop adaptation menus for their own work, offering insights on important communication considerations for both the design and rollout of adaptation menus.
Webinar
Scott Hershberger
Scott Hershberger is a science communicator focusing on public engagement on climate change mitigation and adaptation. He is an M.S. student in Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he is conducting his thesis research on how Extension professionals approach climate change communication. He is also a project assistant with the Wisconsin Extension Maple Syrup Program, where he researches the social science of maple syrup production and created a climate change adaptation menu for Midwestern maple syrup producers. Prior to graduate school, he was a science writer at Scientific American, Fermilab, and the American Mathematical Society.
