Students tapped maple trees on the Washington University in St. Louis campus, and they collected berries on the South 40 and acorns in nearby Forest Park during a course on Missouri’s natural heritage taught by Stan Braude, PhD, senior lecturer in biology, in Arts & Sciences. (Above) Nathaniel Simon, who also works on the organic garden Burning Kumquat, and graduate assistant Jennifer Gruhn collect sap. On Feb. 15, the students joined Bon Appétit staff in preparing maple syrup and the other locally collected foods at Ibby’s Bistro. (Below) Class member Annie Gocke (left) joins Gruhn in checking the temperature of the maple sap as it is boiled down to syrup. The sap didn’t run well this year because the weather was unseasonably cold, but there was enough syrup for 25 short stacks of pancakes. The brunch was “absolutely fabulous,” said Jennifer Smith, PhD, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. (Credit: KRISTA BaKer/bon appetit(top), Sid Hastings/WUSTL Photos (bottom))