Ready for UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day?

All systems are "go" for the 15th Annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, set Saturday, Feb. 21.

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Diane Ullman of the Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT) today finished applying the finishing touches to the second of two murals behind the UC Davis Arboretum in a project headed by urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, associate professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology. Meineke teaches ENT 001, "Art, Science and the World of Insects," a class previously taught and founded by Ullman. 

The two murals, the work of ENT 001 students, Meineke, Ullman and volunteers, will be celebrated at a grand opening at 3 p.m. "The two murals are the first half of a 4-mural project displaying a cross-section of California’s diversity, spanning from the coast to the Sierras," Meineke says. "The murals being unveiled are of the coast and the Central Valley. They are 15’ by 5’ large format, high-relief pieces, each made by one quarter of ENT 001 students."

The mural includes such flora and fauna as strawberry, sunflower, pumpkin and watermelon fields; an egret and great blue heron;  rabbits and squirrels; beetles, bees, dragonflies, aphids, and a Jerusalem cricket;  and a family farm, complete with the iconic red barn, cows and a windmill. 

The Biodiversity Museum Day features 12 museums or collections across campus,  is a "Super Science Day" where you watch a carnivorous plant eat a fly,  pet a stick insect, photograph a bald eagle, time-travel two billion years, stare down a T. rex, learn how to plant a pollinator garden, try your hand at flintnapping, laugh at yeast jokes, and take home seed cookies for the pollinators.

The event, free and family friendly, and within a time frame of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., is a place where visitors can engage one-on-one with scientists. It is a day to discover, explore and connect, said committee chair Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology. 

The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT) plays major role in its production, with Yang as the committee chair, and participating museums and collections that include the Bohart Museum of Entomology; the Bee Haven; and the Nematode Collection. 

The list of participating museums and collections:

• Anthropology Museum is temporarily housed in Wickson Hall, West Entrance, while Young Hall is undergoing renovations. Hours: 12 noon to 4 p.m.
• Arboretum and Public Garden, Habitat Gardens in the Environmental GATEway, Hours: 12 noon to 4 p.m.
• Bee Haven, 1 Bee Biology Road, off Hutchison, then Hopkins Road. Hours: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Bohart Museum of Entomology, Room 1124, Academic Surge Building, and hallway, 455 Crocker Lane. Hours: 12 noon to 4 p.m.
• Botanical Conservatory, Kleiber Hall Drive. Hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• California Raptor  Center, 1340 Equine Lane, off of Old Davis Road. Hours: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Center for Plant Diversity.  1026 Katherine Esau Science Hall. Hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Design Museum, 124 Cruess Hall, 375 California Ave. Hours: 12 Noon to 4 p.m.
• Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. Hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  
• Nematode Collection, 1026 Katherine Esau Science Hall. Hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Paleontology Collection, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Paleontology Collection, Room 1309, Crocker Lane. Hours: 12 noon to 4 p.m.
• Phaff Yeast Culture Collection, Robert Mondavi Institute Brewery and Food Processing Facility. Hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

In addition, a speakers' series will take place from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Silverado Vineyards' Sensory Theatre of the Sensory Building, Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, 392 Old Davis Road. The schedule:

• 4 p.m.: Pallavi Shakya, doctoral candidate, lab of nematologist Shahid Siddique, "Into the Nematode World."
• 4:15 p.m.: Samantha "Sam" Murray, education and garden coordinator of The Bee Haven and member of the bee lab of Elina Niño, who will present "Creating Your Own Pollinator Haven"
• 4:30 p.m.: Tracy Thomson, PhD, UC Davis Earth and Planetary Sciences, research assistant, "Hobnobbing in the Cretaceous: What's Up With Dinosaur Forelimbs?" He will present a new hypothesis about the function of alvarezsaurid or long-legged dinosaurs.
• 4:45 p.m.: Kyria Boundy-Mills, PhD, collection curator and research microbiologist, Phaff Yeast Collection. "Creative Uses of Yeasts."  

More than 300 faculty, students and staff will be staffing the displays.  Maps can be downloaded on the website and also will be available onsite. Food vendor trucks will be parked by the Katherine Esau Science Hall.

The event was founded by the Bohart Museum of Entomology and the Botanical Conservatory.