What started in 2010 with just a few Ithaca College students harvesting local maple syrup and making French toast for their friends brought nearly 360 attendees to this year’s South Hill Forest Products (SHFP) open house April 18. Over the years, this co-curricular organization and company has cultivated a space for the campus and local communities to reconnect with nature and even give back to the land along the way.

Nearing the end of the academic year, students have the opportunity to showcase months of hard work. For the students in the Non-Timber Forest Products class, this is South Hill Forest Products.

The Ithaca College Apiary held Bee Fest where all community members could interact with and learn about honey bees and other insects while also wearing a beekeeping suit Oct. 10.

Students and faculty managing the Ithaca College Natural Lands are in the process of removing what they hope is the last of an invasive species of plant known as Japanese stiltgrass after six years of sustained eradication efforts.

Students involved in South Hill Forest Products are farming honey, syrup and mushrooms in the Ithaca College Natural Lands.