UNDERHILL CENTER, VERMONT- Mark Isselhardt appointed to position of University of Vermont (UVM) Extension Maple Specialist.

Mark will be based at the UVM Proctor Maple Research Center in Underhill Center, where he has been employed for the past 12 years, first as a maple research technician and for the last three as a research specialist. At the Proctor Center, Mark has worked on research to increase sap yields as well as what impact modern methods have on trees or the finished product. He succeeds Tim Wilmot, who retired in November after 29 years at the university.

As the new Extension Maple Specialist, Isselhardt will work with Vermont’s maple producers, sharing research and information to help them ensure long-term tree health, improve management of their sugarbush and increase profitability through higher sap yield, syrup production efficiency and sales. In addition to conducting research and consulting with producers, he will be involved in organizing educational meetings including the annual January Maple Conferences.

His connection to the Proctor Maple Research Center goes back 20 years when he started as a work study student while earning his Bachelor of Science Degree in Forestry Management from UVM. He later received his Master’s Degree in Plant Biology, also from UVM.

A Bennington native, Isselhardt credits his participation in a natural resources session at the Governor’s Institutes of Vermont, while a Mount Anthony Union High School student, for helping shape his future career.

Isselhardt lives in Elmore with his wife and two children. He can be reached at (802) 899-9926 or by e-mail at Mark.Isselhardt@uvm.edu.

January 2016