- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
And if you're part of the UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP), it takes a lot of worker bees from all facets to succeed.
We congratulate CAMBP for its well-deserved recognition at the recent UC Davis Staff Assembly's Citation of Excellence ceremony.
CAMBP director and founder Elina Lastro Niño, associate professor of Cooperative Extension and a member of UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty, and co-program manager Wendy Mather won a Faculty-Staff Partnership Award.
Niño, UC Extension apiculturist since 2014, founded CAMBP in 2016. Mather joined the program in March of 2018. Also integral to the program is Kian Nikzad, but as a newer employee, was ineligible to be nominated.
The awards ceremony, held Sept. 12 in the International Center on campus, singled out “some of our most exceptional UC Davis individuals and teams,” Chancellor May said in his presentation.
Nominators of "The Bee Team" (Kathy Keatley Garvey, Nora Orozco and Tabatha Yang of Department of Entomology and Nematology) lauded Niño and Mather for providing a “program of learning, teaching, research, and public service, goes above and beyond in delivering comprehensive, science-based information about honey bees and honey bee health. They continually and consistently develop, improve, and refine their statewide curriculum that educates stewards in a train-the-trainer program to disseminate accurate, timely, and crucial information. Honey bees pollinate more than 30 California crops, including almonds, a $5 billion industry (no bees, no pollination, no almonds). Indeed, California produces more than a third of our country's vegetables and three-quarters of our fruits and nuts. However, colony losses are alarming due to pesticides, pests, predators and pathogens.”
As of Sept. 15, 2023, CAMBP has donated 34,000 hours of volunteer time and served 209,000 individuals in education, outreach and beekeeping mentorship. If a volunteer hour were to be calculated at $26.87, CAMBP has given $913,580 back to California in service of science-based beekeeping and honey bee health.
Its website, accessible to the public, offers a list of classes and knowledge-based information, including backyard beekeeping, bees in the neighborhood, bees and beekeeping regulations, defensive bees, live honey bee removals, and protecting pollinators.
“Bottom line,” the nominators concluded, “our ‘B' Team is really an ‘A' Team, an outstanding example of UC Davis teaching, research and service; a team providing exemplary service and contributions; and a team that creates and maintains high morale and embodies the Principles of Community.”
Joint Statement. In a joint statement following the awards ceremony, Mather and Nikzad said: “We share this award with our passionate and caring member volunteers. Our members are deeply committed to honey bee health, science-based beekeeping practices, and, most importantly, to each other. Their enthusiasm and dedication drive our mission forward. We wish to acknowledge Elina Niño for her visionary leadership; she has brought together various stakeholders, including growers, bee breeders, commercial, sideline, and hobbyist beekeepers, as well as the general public, through CAMBP, UC Davis, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) and UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE). We missed having her at the ceremony.”
Well deserved! A tip of the bee veil to CAMBP! You're smokin'
(See full-length news story and more images on the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology website)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
You could call Ivana Li "entomologist, biology lab manager, artist and chef extraordinaire."
Or, you could call Ivana Li "UC Davis service award winner."
She's all those. And more.
Ivana Li is the recipient of a major UC Davis Staff Assembly award for her contributions to the campus community.
Li won the Staff Assembly's Citation for Excellence Individual Award, Service Category. She will receive a cash award of $1500 for the “efforts and positivity” she brings to the community, said spokesperson Darolyn Striley.
The Staff Assembly traditionally hosts an awards ceremony in the fall, but this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic precautions, it is likely to be postponed, Striley said.
A trio nominated Li for the honor: Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator, Bohart Museum of Entomology; supervisor Pat Randolph, academic coordinator, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, College of Biological Sciences; and Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Also contributing to the nomination were Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology; and forensic entomologist/adjunct professor Robert Kimsey, who advises the UC Davis Entomology Club. Li is a past president of the club.
They noted that Li "exhibits a strong sense of community and humanity,” and her “high productivity, engagement, inclusion, generosity and kind personality make for a combination that makes us all proud.”
The award is confidential, with names, gender and identification removed from the nomination form.
"Our nominee is exemplary as a scientist, artist and chef, going above and beyond the job description,” the nominators began. “As a teaching lab coordinator of the largest biology course at UC Davis, (Li) coordinates up to 1300 students and meets the unexpected challenges in ingenious, ‘can-do' and innovative ways. For example, when the lab desperately needed a large mosquito culture, (Li) contacted area vector control agencies, collected the mosquitoes, and delivered them to the lab."
“Without her tenacity in locating materials, that lab would have been a failure for that quarter,” supervisor Pat Randolph, said.
As a scientist and artist, Li is always willing to share her time and talents to fulfill the UC Davis mission of public service, the trio noted. For some 20 years, she has eagerly volunteered at the annual UC Picnic Day, both as an undergraduate student and as an employee. She coordinates department exhibits and displays. She also "interacts enthusiastically" with the public, even engaging in creative face-painting.
Li “organized the Invertebrate Collection and display for the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, an annual science-based day formed nine years ago that draws 4000 people to our campus. This involved wrangling faculty to participate, developing a kid-friendly shell identification game to give them an idea how scientists go about identifying animals.” She “passionately draws people into science and serves as a role model with a welcoming, 'I'm-glad-to-be-here' smile and a genuine 'let's talk-science' friendly approach.”
This year Ivana Li designed the t-shirt that the volunteers wore. It featured a double-decker bus with the “passengers” as organisms showcased in the 13 museums or collection.
On the nomination form, Lynn Kimsey and Tabatha Yang noted that Li creates “amazing dioramas in the hallway of the Lab Sciences Building” and created the “incredible dioramas in the hallway of Briggs Hall.” She developed and created exhibits, t-shirts, and other informational materials for the Bohart Museum.
In addition, Li has served as an instructor at a summer bio boot camp for youngsters and agreed to be the chef for a professor's summer boot camp for graduate and undergraduate students. She also cooks for a scientific society at its annual meeting.
Li holds a bachelor of science degree in entomology from UC Davis, awarded in 2013. In her senior year, she won the "UC Davis Outstanding Senior in Entomology" from the Cal Aggie Alumni Association, and the department's “Outstanding Senior Award.”
Li learned to love insects in her childhood; she grew up in Monterey Park, near east Los Angeles. Professor Sharon Lawler of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, who nominated her for the outstanding senior award, noted that “Ivana Li exemplifies the kind of leader, community organizer and entomology that our department seeks to produce. She has especially excelled in her entomology courses and in leadership. Ivana Li is a true entomology and UC Davis success story.”
Yes, she is.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
(Here's the piece we wrote on the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology website)
As a child growing up in Dixon, she remembers picking bell peppers and sorting tomatoes with her farmworker-parents and siblings. They also labored in fruit-cutting sheds in nearby Winters.
“I was the seventh of eight children,” related Elvira Galvan Hack, who was born in Arizona but moved to Dixon at age 4. “My mother stayed home with us during the school year, but in the summer, starting when I was in the fifth grade, I and all my siblings and my mom would work in the fields.”
“My parents, Eluterio and Lilia Galvan, made sure that we children grew up happy and healthy and in a loving home filled with family traditions,” Elvira said. “We were—and still are—a close-knit family.”
Then it happened. Two of her house-cleaning clients, a University of California, Davis professor and his wife, saw her potential, her love of people, and her passion for learning. They encouraged her to finish high school and attend business college. She did. They loaned her funds for an electric typewriter to polish her skills. She did. She won a $200 scholarship to the business school, gained comprehensive training, and launched her career, first at a Woodland department store and then at UC Davis, where she has served as an academic advisor for undergraduate students for the past 17 years.
Today, as the beneficiary of a good deed never forgotten, the Dixon resident is “paying it forward” and “making a difference” as the staff academic advisor for students majoring in animal biology, a program housed within the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
This year she's been singled out for not one--but two--awards for exemplary service:
- The Eleanor and Harry Walker Advising Awards Program, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES), selected her for the 2019 staff advisor award. Her mentor, forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey, master advisor in the Animal Biology Program, won the faculty advising award.
- The UC Davis Staff Assembly selected her (and six other individuals and four teams) for a campuswide Citation for Excellence Award. Her award, an honorable mention in the highly competitive individual service category, comes with a certificate and a monetary prize.
Elvira Galvan Hack feels blessed. “I love my job and I feel honored to be able to pay it forward,” she said. “I was blessed with people who believed in me, encouraged me, and helped me accomplish my dream of continuing my education. I love my job, interacting with students as a staff academic advisor.”
Lauded as “going above and beyond” to advocate for and mentor her students, Elvira remains passionate about helping them succeed professionally, socially and developmentally. Her colleagues and peers praise her drive and determination to help others; her comprehensive training and dedication; her caring attitude; and her strong family ties and trust.
“Elvira is likely the best academic advisor ever,” said Kimsey, an adjunct professor and lecturer in the Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. “Not only is she completely conversant with all the rules and regulations of the major, but understands the latitude of flexibility built into their application in a very human way. She is connected with all the administrative functionaries necessary to efficiently accomplish any task in a timely manner. For the confused or troubled student, she is the first and last resort for the solution of problems not only of an academic or administrative kind but those of a deeply personal nature as well. She keeps them on track, outlining their options, helping them decide on their future professions, and the direction their life should take. She has been invaluable to me as the master advisor. She really does care about a student's fate. Moreover we have had great fun doing these tasks together.”
Her supervisor, chief administrative officer Nora Orozco, said that Elvira creates a welcoming environment in her office, meeting individually with her students to help them hurdle the many challenges they face.
Animal Biology Major
Many animal biology majors seek careers as physicians, veterinarians, wildlife scientists or researchers. The students are diverse: they range from first-generation college students to undocumented immigrants, and they span all socioeconomic levels.
Elvira Galvan Hack was hired in October 2007 as the new undergraduate staff advisor for the animal biology major, then located in the Department of Nematology. "In 2007 we never had an undergraduate major--only graduate programs, and Professor Ed Lewis (now with the University of Idaho) was the master advisor."
"In 2007 when I was hired, I was given the opportunity to start our undergraduate advising office from scratch," she related. "I worked on putting procedures together for our new advising practices. I contacted each of our students and introduced myself, letting them know where their new advising office was located." She compiled an electronic mailing list or ListServe to distribute messages to the subscribers. She engaged in "one-on-one advising with each student to get to know them and to gather information on how we as a department, and I as their advisor, could serve them better."
Hack held an open house in both the winter and spring quarters, where she presented information about the academic requirements; explained academic planning changes; and provided information on what classes they needed to take—and when—to enable them to complete their degree more efficiently and effectively.
When the nematology department merged with the entomology department in 2012 to form the Department of Entomology and Nematology, adjunct professor Bob Kimsey became the master advisor of the animal biology program. “Elvira has been invaluable to me as the master advisor,” Kimsey reiterated.
The animal biology students describe her as kind, generous, trustworthy and helpful. They seek assistance on issues ranging from homesickness, roommate discord, financial strife and food insecurities, to sexual assault, domestic abuse and suicidal thoughts.
'You Can Do This'
If they're feeling overwhelmed, she soothes them with: “If you are doing the best you can, you're doing great.” If they're feeling depressed, she will encourage them with “Look at everything you've accomplished! You can do this!”
“During my first quarter as a transfer student, I went through some extreme life changes and emotional rollercoasters,” one student said. “I would end up in her office crying my eyes out and in distraught, but she always calmed me down and helped me reach out for other help to get me through my rough patch.”
Another student described Elvira “as by far the most helpful, kind and encouraging adviser I have met at UC Davis. Being a first-generation college student, I require extra help in understanding and executing graduation requirements and other criteria for my future career goals.”
Elvira's path from high school dropout to a professional career included 15 years with a Woodland department store, where she advanced from sales associate, customer service representative, key auditor, and office coordinator to finally, human resources manager.
On the recommendation of a colleague, Elvira joined the UC Davis workforce in 2001. She initially worked as a front desk receptionist and as an undergraduate staff advisor for the Department of History before accepting a position with the Department of Nematology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology) and Plant Pathology in 2007.
Her animal biology students know that her office is open. She is their dream catcher. She encourages them to meet their goals and guides them to realize their dreams. “I always makes time for my students,” she says. “I have an open door policy so I am accessible to students when they need it the most.”
One graduating student told her that her office was her “happy place”: “You always made me feel better. I felt like I could talk to you about anything. You took time to get to know me, my family, and we would laugh and talk about family. You understood.”
Elvira also understands food insecurities; she provides nutritious snacks for them in a corner of her office and provides a list of resources where they can get free or low-cost food.
Helping a Homeless Student
One memory stands out. “I had a student who revealed she was living in her friend's car in a grocery store parking lot because her new place to live wasn't ready yet I offered her help in finding a place to stay but she declined. I invited her to sleep on my couch and she declined. Said her new apartment would be ready soon. Two nights later at 12:15 a.m., I received a call from her, very upset, and saying she was going to be arrested. The security guard saw that she was living in a car in the grocery store parking lot and threatened to have her arrested. I told her to tell him I was on my way and not to do anything until I got there. He gave her an hour to be gone or he would call the police. I got there, calmed her down, and we moved the car. I told her to ‘grab what you will need because you're coming home with me.' She stayed and slept on my couch for four days until she could move to her apartment.”
In many respects, Elvira considers her students part of her own family, which includes three daughters, Jennifer Torres and Elaine Hack of Woodland, and Sierra Hack of Vacaville; and four grandchildren, Amaya, Alyssia and Aryanna Torres of Woodland and Aaden Hack Brazelton of Vacaville.
The close-knit family includes Elvira's siblings, Joaquin Galvan of Dixon; twins Lydia Rodrigues of Tucson, Ariz., and Lilia Felix of Silverdale, Wash.; Bonifacio Galvan of Sonora (He started his now-thriving company, Galvan Fly Reels, http://galvanflyreels.com) in his garage; Virginia "Virgie" Freitas of Vallejo; Sandra Galvan of Elmira; and Amanda Galvan of Dixon. "We are all 18 to 24 months apart," Elvira said.
Her oldest daughter, Jennifer, works in the UC Davis Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. An older brother, Joaquin, recently retired from UC Davis as a retention coordinator with the Student Academic Success Center.
Blazing Her Own Path
Elvira not only followed in Joaquin's footsteps, but is blazing her own path. As a certified academic advisor, she manages, with faculty, the Science and Society Program; manages the Career Discovery Group, part of Science and Society; and works closely with the dean's office as an advisor in the contemporary leadership minor.
Highly trained in customer service, mental health, diversity and inclusion, social justice and other issues, Hack keeps current with policies and procedures by participating in workshops, classes and other projects. She is active in scores of campus committees. She served on the campuswide Undergraduate Academic Advising Counsel, which supports academic advising at UC Davis and provides advising recommendations to the Office of Academic Advising, the Vice Provost and Dean for Undergraduate Education, Division of Student Affairs and the Council of Associate Deans.
In addition, Elvira serves as a member of the First-Year Work Group, collaborating with CA&ES advisors to design workshops to better serve first-year students.
“I love my job,” Elvira says. “I am blessed. I am living my dream of paying it forward and making a difference.”
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Yang, who joined the Bohart Museum nine years ago, coordinates museum tours, classroom visits, special weekend hours, summer camp programs, and other outreach activities that connect science and scientists with the public. She collaborates with interns, undergraduates, staff, graduate students and faculty to accomplish the outreach program.
Yang received a cash prize of $1000 as a “gesture of appreciation" for her contributions to the campus community, according to Stacey Brezing, chair of the UC Davis Staff Assembly Citations of Excellence Committee.
Nominations for the service award are based on achievements such as fostering engagement and inclusion in campus community, leadership, and volunteerism.
Yang was nominated, confidentially, by Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology at UC Davis; senior museum scientist Steve Heydon of the Bohart Museum, and Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist for the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
They wrote: “Our nominee is a treasure, a one-of-a-kind gem and an all-around ambassador who exemplifies all that is good and great about UC Davis. A friendly and caring person who joined the campus museum workforce in 2009, she makes all of us feel needed, wanted, and appreciated as if we were ‘Person of the Year.' Throughout the year, she engages more than 20,000 children, families, students, faculty and staff who visit the museum or attend her science outreach programs. She enthusiastically and freely gives of her time to plan and participate in weekend open houses. She co-founded the annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day six years ago, which this year drew 12 participating museums and an attendance of 3000. This year she chaired the committee."
“Five years ago, she launched an annual summer camp for children that is so popular it draws youths from around the nation, resulting in multiple camps and waiting lists. She helps coordinate the UC Davis Picnic Day activities in the museum, engaging more than 3500 excited and enthusiastic visitors. At the Solano County Ag Day, she shared scientific information with 3000 youngsters over a four-hour period, always smiling and genuinely interested in each person."
The nominees praised her exemplary service, high morale, encouragement, passion and inclusion and described the qualities as a treasure trove...she is kind, caring, thoughtful and never without a smile or a word of encouragement."
One volunteer at the museum said: "Wherever I go, her name is legendary. People just rave about her and her work." Said another: "She is one of the most patient, outgoing individuals I know who loves to teach and share information."
Said her supervisor: "She has greatly expanded our outreach programs, participating in Solano County Youth Ag Day, and many other STEM programs offered at libraries, schools and county facilities. She gives science outreach programs to about 15,000 adults and children every year. She is particularly good at working with groups of children and maintaining discipline at the same time as engaging them in the topic, so that everyone can see, hear and learn. We always request an evaluation from groups she talks to and they always rave about her presentations."
The Staff Assembly's annual Citations of Excellence Awards Program provides recognition for individual staff and staff teams who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in one of the following areas: teaching, research, service, supervision and innovation. There is also a team award for campus community contributions and service. Teams include project or program staff, office staff, or other similar groups. (Names of the 2017 recipients, along with photos, will be posted soon on the Staff Assembly website.)
The Bohart Museum is a world-renowned insect museum that houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens. It also maintains a live “petting zoo,” featuring walking sticks, Madagascar hissing cockroaches and tarantulas. A gift shop, open year around, includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.
The Bohart Museum's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The museum is closed to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
More information on the Bohart Museum or on group tours (a small fee is charged) is available by contacting (530) 752-0493 or bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.