Foundation Plant Services

Eskalen lab

Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI)

March 15, 2026

By Kendra T Rose

USDA NIFA has announced the FY 2026 Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) funding opportunity. This program supports projects that address key challenges in U.S. organic agriculture through the combined efforts of research, education, and extension/outreach.The OREI program has three…

A jumping spider peering at the photographer

What's That Spider?

March 13, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

What's that spider?A common question on the Internet.Bring your image of a spider and ask the arachnid specialista at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house, set from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, March 15 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.The event, free and…

Some of the native bee images by Krystle Hickman on display at the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

Come for the Spiders? And Stay for the Bees and Butterflies?

March 12, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Is it "Come for the spiders--and stay for the bees and butterflies?"Or is it "Come for the bees and butterflies--and stay for the spiders?"Actually, you can have it all three ways!When the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, hosts an open house, "Eight-Legged…

CAL FIRE Forest Health Program Grant Opportunity

March 12, 2026

By Kendra T Rose

CAL FIRE is now accepting applications for the Forest Health Program Grants for Fiscal Year 25–26. This program supports landscape-scale forest management projects designed to improve forest resilience, reduce wildfire risk, and enhance long-term climate and watershed benefits across California’s…

Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Bruce Dupree Hammock

Date Set for 'The Life and Legacy of Bruce Hammock'

March 11, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Calendar this date, Oct. 10.The Celebration of the Life and Legacy of UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Hammock, internationally renowned scientist and acclaimed member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will take place at 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10 in California Hall, UC…

Charles Rice, Nobel laureate

A Golden Opportunity, Twice-Fold

March 10, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It was, indeed, a golden opportunity, twice-fold, and what UC Davis undergraduate students in a biochemistry class taught by UC Davis Distinguished Professor Walter Leal will always remember.Five, 10, 15, 20, 30 years from now they'll be saying "Remember that biochemistry class in Kleiber Hall when Dr…

Crab spider nailing a grasshopper. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Arachnids: Close Encounters of the Best Kind

March 9, 2026

Close encounters of the third kind?"No, close encounters of the best kind!" say the scientists who study arachnids.That's what will happen when visitors at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house see and learn about scorpions, tarantulas, vinegaroon, whip spiders, trapdoor spiders, jumping…

Bombus californicus on a Gallardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

California Has No State Bee--Yet!

March 6, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

California has a designated state insect--the California dogface butterfly, Zerene eurydice--but it has no designated state bee.Forty-eight of the 50 states in the nation have a designated state insect or a specific insect for a particular category, such as the state butterfly. Only Iowa and Michigan…

Nazzy Pakpour at Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Nazzy Pakpour: 'Curiosity Made the Scientist'

March 5, 2026

There isn't much that she can't do or hasn't done!UC Davis alumna Nazzy Pakpour is a PhD, a biotech company founder, an entomologist, a children's book author, a mother of two children, a former professor and a research scientist.Pakpour, co-founder and chief executive officer of Yeast Bay Bio, …

Then UC Davis doctoral student Sarah Dalrymple pointing to the art on the garden shed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Native Bees in the UC Davis Bee Haven

March 4, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The UC Davis Bee Haven is not just the home of honey bees, Apis mellifera. The half-acre pollinator demonstration garden, installed in the fall of 2009 by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT), is also the home sweet home of native bees, plus many other pollinators.Located at…

Hands cradling a stick insect (walking stick) at the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

The Young Entomologists

March 3, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The young entomologists staffing the display tables at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during the 15th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day couldn't have been more passionate as they talked about the insects they study.Background: The Bohart Museum was one of the 12 museums and collections showcased…

Honey bee nectaring

Learning About Bees at the UC Davis Bee Haven

March 2, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It was a great day to learn about bees. The weather cooperated, the bees buzzed, and 632 people looked for the queen in the bee observation hive, wandered through the garden, and admired the art. And they took home seed cookies to plant at home.The occasion: The UC Davis Bee Haven open house…

Spotted-wing drosophila on raspberry. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Todd Holmes, Light and Insect Behavior

February 27, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you're interested in the latest research on light and insect behavior, you'll want to attend the seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology on Wednesday, March 4 in 122 Briggs Hall, UC Davis, or watch it on Zoom.Todd Holmes, professor of physiology and biophysics at the…

Leafcutter bee on rockrose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

You, Too, Can Plant a Pollinator Garden

February 26, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

When Samantha "Sam" Murray, education and garden coordinator of the UC Davis Bee Haven, took the stage last Saturday during the 15th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, her talk on "Creating Your Own Pollinator Garden" drew rapt attention."Pollinator populations are changing," Sam told the crowd…

Root-knot nematodes in tomato roots

What's a Nematode?

February 25, 2026

If you missed the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day Speaker Series on Saturday, Feb. 21 in the Sensory Theatre of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, 392 Old Davis Road, not to worry.The series, featuring introductory information about nematodes, dinosaurs, yeast, and bees and…

Addie Abrams at the microscope

Addie Abrams, Ph.D to Be, to Present Exit Seminar

February 24, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

What new technologies can you use to control aphids and thrips in California lettuce?Adelaine "Addie" Abrams, who will receive her doctorate in entomology at the end of the UC Davis quarter, will present her exit seminar on "Same Pests, New Tricks: Precision Technologies for Integrative…

Scaptomyza flava in The Netherlands. (Photo by Dick Belgers, Wikipedia)

Diet Detoxification in Insects

February 23, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

An evolutionary ecologist who studies the impacts of a plant diet on insects and their microbiomes, will discuss her research at the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Evolutionary ecologist and UC Davis alumna Jessica M. Aguilar, a National Science…

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Diane Ullman

A Sneak Peak at the Second of Two UC Davis Murals

February 20, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Wait 'til you see the flora and the fauna on two ceramic-mosaic murals located behind the UC Davis Arboretum Plant Nursery on Garrod Drive.An unveiling and celebration will take place at a public ceremony at 3 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 21 during the 15th annual UC Davis Biodiversity. Museum Day. UC…

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Hammock in his office.

'A Quantum Leap at a Time: In Memory of Bruce D. Hammock'

February 19, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

(Editor's Note: The legendary UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Dupree Hammock, who died on Jan. 5, 2026 at age 78, was an internationally recognized scientist who held a joint appointment with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. He was a highly…

Male longhorned bee asleep on gaura (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UC Davis BioDiv Day: Bees at the Bohart, Bees at The Haven

February 18, 2026

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Will there be native bees and honey bees at the 15th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 21?Yes! There will be bumble bees, carpenter bees, orchard bees and orchid bees--live or specimens--at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, and honey bees and other pollinators in the UC Davis Bee…

Foundation Plant Services Events

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