Matt Rennie passed his PhD oral examination this week. Matt has been figuring out whether it's possible to produce maple syrup in New Zealand using the plantation method. The results look promising, and some of his work can be found in our website.
The objectives of his PhD thesis were to develop an understanding of two key domains that have the potential, when combined, to de-risk the introduction of maple sap collection outside of their home range:
Matt demonstrated that sap can be extracted from a de-topped stem of a coppiced sugar maple sapling, grown in New Zealand, using a vacuum extraction. On two occasions over the course of a three-day period, sap was collected during thaws after previous night freezing air temperatures. The resulting sap's sugar and organic acid composition was then analysed and shown to be comparable to sap extracted in the sugar maple's home range.
Matt's PhD was part of the Tree Syrup Aotearoa research, which was a ‘Smart Idea’ programme, funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE).
Congratulations Matt!
