"We believe that [Indigenous people] were making maple syrup for 1,000 maybe 1,200 years before the first Europeans arrived here," said Fred Elliott of the Ontario Maple Syrup Museum in Hillsburgh.

UNE hired Dr. Seeram in January, but they say his recent departure is unrelated to the conflicts around his research.

That's because the Department of Natural Resources told him the property had untapped potential as a sugar bush — a shorter name for a maple syrup operation. "I had no idea. You don't go to ...