- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The event, set for Saturday, Feb. 10, will feature 10 museums or collections:
- Anthropology Museum, 328 Young Hall and grounds, open from noon to 4 p.m.
- Arboretum and Public Garden, Habitat Gardens in the Environmental GATEway, adjacent to the Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Bohart Museum of Entomology, Room 1124 and main hall of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Botanical Conservatory, the greenhouses along Kleiber Hall Drive, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- California Raptor Center, 1340 Equine Lane, off Old Davis Road, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Center for Plant Diversity, Katherine Esau Science Hall off Kleiber Hall Drive, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Nematode Collection, Katherine Esau Science Hall, off Kleiber Hall Drive, 10 am. to 2 p.m..
- Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Room 1394, Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Paleontology Collection, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 1309 Earth and Physical Sciences Building, 434 LaRue Road, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Phaff Yeast Culture Collection, Robert Mondavi Institute Brewery and Food Processing facility, Old Davis Road, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Each year more than 200 volunteers--students, staff and faculty--from across campus help more 4,000 visitors--including other UC Davis students, staff and faculty--"learn about biodiversity through our amazing biological collections," said UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day chair Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
The Bohart Museum founded UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The committee recently settled on the date. The inaugural event took place during the Presidents' Day weekend.
The museums and collections will participate at their various sites on campus. They will include Phaff Yeast Culture Collection, Bohart Museum of Entomology, Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Arboretum and Public Garden, California Raptor Center, Earth and Planetary Sciences Paleontology Collections, Botanical Conservatory, Center for Plant Diversity, Nematode Collections, Marine Invertebrate Teaching Collection. and Department of Anthropology Museum.
"Each year more than 200 volunteers--students, staff and faculty--from across campus help more 4,000 visitors--including other UC Davis students, staff and faculty--learn about biodiversity through our amazing biological collections," said UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day chair Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
Yang, with Brennen Dyer, collections manager for the Bohart Museum and Melissa Cruz Hernandez, outreach and leadership program manager for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, recently coordinated a Crowdfunding project raising funds for the event.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It will take place Saturday, Feb. 10 on the UC Davis campus.
Participating collections include, but are not limited to, the Phaff Yeast Culture Collection, Bohart Museum of Entomology, Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Arboretum and Public Garden, California Raptor Center, Earth and Planetary Sciences Paleontology Collections, Botanical Conservatory, Center for Plant Diversity, Nematode Collections, Marine Invertebrate Teaching Collection. and Department of Anthropology Museum.
Donations, from $5 on up, may be made at this website: UC Davis October Crowdfund campaign. It costs approximately $5000 to finance the Biodiversity Museum Day, the committee related. Donors may make contributions to honor a loved one or a favorite organism, such as a praying mantis, plant, nematode or fossil. The crowdfunding campaign ends at 11:59 p.m.,Tuesday, Oct. 31.
The committee asks that you:
- Share the news with three friends/co-workers
- Post on your social media. The UC Davis Crowdfund has links for Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (or X)
- Donate here
Coordinating the UC Davis October Crowdfund campaign are Yang; Brennen Dyer, collections manager for the Bohart Museum; and Melissa Cruz Hernandez, outreach and leadership program manager for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Shahid Siddique laboratory was out in force on Saturday, Feb. 18 during the 12th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day.
The nematologists set up their display in the Katherine Esau Science Hall, formerly the Sciences Lab Building, and drew nearly 1000 visitors, the most ever.
“BioDiv Day went really well,” said Siddique, an assistant professor of nematology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. “A lot of people took interest in getting information about dog heartworms and root-knot nematodes infecting tomatoes. Some people said that nematodes were their favorite stop for BioDiv Day. We had 906 visitors in total and a vast majority of them were kids with family.”
Participating with Siddique were his graduate students Alison Coomer, Veronica Casey, Pallavi Shakya, and Ching-Jung Lin, and professor emeritus Valerie Williamson of Plant Pathology.
The Siddique lab focuses on basic as well as applied aspects of interaction between parasitic nematodes and their host plants. "The long-term object of our research is not only to enhance our understanding of molecular aspects of plant–nematode interaction," Siddique says, "but also to use this knowledge to provide new resources for reducing the impact of nematodes on crop plants in California."
- Celery infected with root-knot nematodes
- Anisakis nematodes from a Minke whale stomach
- Heart of a dog infected with heartworms (Dirofilaria immitis)
- Parasitic nematodes (Baylisascaris transfuga) isolated from the stomach of a bear
- White-tailed deer eye infected with parasitic nematodes (Thelazia spp.)
- Sugar beet infected with root-knot nematodes
- Dog ascaris (Toxocara canis) cause of visceral larva migrans
- Common parasitic worms of human (Ascaris lumbricoides) cause of Ascaris isolated from human intestine
- Dog intestine infected with whipworms
- Horse stomach parasite community including 1) Parascaris 2) Tapeworms 3) Botfly larvae
- Yam infected with root-knot nematode
- Tomato root infected with root-knot nematode
- Adult raccoon roundworms
- Filarial nematodes (Onchocerca volvulus) cause of Onchocerciasis river blindness
- Zoonotic hookworms (Ancylostoma caninum)
- Ascaris lumbricoides (common parasitic worms of human)
- Tree swallow infected with Diplotriaena nematode
- Sugar beet infected with cyst nematode (Heterodera schachtii)
- Grape roots infected with Root-knot nematodes
- Mormon crickets infected with horsehair worms (Gordius robustus)
- Peach roots infected with root-knot nematodes
- Anisakis nematodes from fish intestine
- Hysterotahylaciun nematodes isolated from fish
- Pinworms isolated from human intestine
- Whipworms isolated from human Intestine
- Anisakis nematodes isolated from seals
- Adult dog heartworms
BioDiv Day, founded by the Bohart Museum, is traditionally held on Presidents' Day weekend. Some 3000 attended this year's event, estimated chair Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator of the Bohart Museum. The "Super Science Day" is free and family friendly. Yang is encouraging donations to help pay expenses; access the UC Davis crowdfunding page.
The Esau Science Hall is newly named for UC Davis professor emeritus Katherine Esau, 1898-1997. Internationally known as one of the most influential plant biologists and professors in history, Esau is lauded for her pioneering work on plant anatomy and structure that laid the foundation for much of today's research in the field. She won the National Medal of Science awarded by then president George Bush.
Esau was born in Ukraine. Her family fled to Berlin after World War I and then emigrated to the United States. She joined the UC Davis faculty after receiving her doctorate in 1931. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1957, only the sixth woman to receive that honor. Following her retirement, she relocated to UC Santa Barbara in 1965. According to Wikipedia, she continued research well into her 90s, publishing a total of 162 articles and five books.
Esau died June 4, 1997 at age 99 in Santa Barbara. A New York Times article quoted Peter Raven, director of the Missouri Botanical Garden: "She absolutely dominated the field of plant anatomy and morphology for several decades. She set the stage for all kinds of modern advances in plant physiology and molecular biology."
In 1982, at age 84, Esau delivered her final UC Davis lecture, covering plasmodesmata. In 1988, she donated $648,000 to UC Davis to establish an endowment to fund plant research fellowships in perpetuity. As of 2020, the endowment's market value has increased by almost six times its original amount, standing at $3.7 million, according to a UC Davis news story.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Plans are being finalized for the popular "Day of Science."
Scheduled Saturday, Feb. 18, it is billed as a “free, family friendly educational event for the community where visitors get to meet and talk with UC Davis scientists and see amazing objects and organisms from the world around us,” according to Biodiversity Museum Day chair Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
Eleven museums or collections on campus will showcase their work:
- Anthropology Museum, 328 Young Hall and grounds, noon to 4 p.m.
- Arboretum and Public Garden, Habitat Gardens in the Environmental GATEway, adjacent to the Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Bohart Museum of Entomology, Room 1124 and main hall of the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
A Minke whale that died in November 1990 was infected with ascaridoid nematodes (shown). - Botanical Conservatory, the greenhouses along Kleiber Hall Drive, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- California Raptor Center, 1340 Equine Lane, off Old Davis Road, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Center for Plant Diversity, Sciences Laboratory Building/Esau Science Hall, off Kleiber Hall Drive, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Nematode Collection, Sciences Laboratory Building/Esau Science Hall, off Kleiber Hall Drive, 9 am. to 3 p.m.
- Marine Invertebrate Collection, Sciences Laboratory Building/Esau Science Hall, off Kleiber Hall Drive, 9 am. to 3 p.m.
- Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Room 1394, Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Paleontology Collection, (Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences) 434 LaRue Road, 12 noon to 4 p.m.
- Phaff Yeast Culture Collection, Robert Mondavi Institute Brewery and Food Processing facility, Old Davis Road, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (See news story)
The UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day is traditionally held on Presidents' Day Weekend at various venues on campus. The 2022 event, however, took place March 6 in the UC Davis Conference Center and drew some 1000 visitors. This year, it's back home to the individual departments where scientists will be on hand to greet visitors and answer questions.
Many middle school and high school students attend the event to take the opportunity to consider careers in science.
All participating museums and collections have active education and outreach programs, Yang said, but the collections are not always accessible to the public.
