Maple syrup production, one of New England’s cultural icons and a key economic component of the region, will shift northward during the next century due to rising temperatures that will drastically change the tapping season and reduce the quality of the sap, a new study says. The report, from researchers at UMass Amherst, the U.S. Geological Survey and colleagues in News Hampshire, Virginia, Indiana, Montana and Canada, finds that, by 2100, the region of maximum maple syrup flow will shift northward by hundreds of miles benefiting producers in Canada and lowering production and quality in the Eastern United States.

The public is invited to observe sunrise and sunset of the longest day of the year among the standing stones of the UMass Amherst Sunwheel on Friday, June 21 at 5 a.m. and again at 7:30 p.m. UMass Amherst astronomer Stephen Schneider will explain the astronomical cause of the solstice and answer questions at the hour-long gatherings.

An open meditation space will be available through Aug. 30 in room 131 in Bartlett Hall. The space is open to the campus community on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Kathryn Ellis has been named director of the Innovation Institute (UMII) at UMass Amherst and will head offices in Amherst and at the Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst in Newton. Ellis will begin on July 29.