So when UC Davis biology laboratory manager (and talented artist) Ivana Li was asked in 2020 for a graphic to help publicize the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, what better art than a double-decker bus featuring the participating museums and collections?
The graphic graced the volunteers' t-shirts that year. Then in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic detoured the free, science-based, in-person event (usually held the Saturday of Presidents' Day weekend) and it rolled into a month of virtual presentations.
This year's event, the 11th annual, is set for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 6, in the UC Davis Conference Center, 550 Alumni Lane. For the first time, all the displays--from barn owls to stick insects to pine cones to Cretaceous fossils--will be in one place.
And Ivana Li has revised the bus art.
All aboard! C'mon in, Ms. Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse. Don't sit too close to Mr. Golden Eagle. Buzz in Ms. Honey Bee. Stay away from Mr. Chinese Praying Mantis, Tenodera sinensis. Sorry, but the driver can neither guarantee your safety nor your arrival at your intended destination.
Okay, roll call!
The passengers:
- California Raptor Center: Golden eagle
- UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden: Valley oak leaf
- Anthropology Museum: Projectile point
- Botanical Conservatory: Titan arum
- Phaff Yeast Collection: Budding yeast
- Paleontology Collection: Skull
- UC Davis Bee Haven: Honey Bee
- Bohart Museum of Entomology: Chinese praying mantis, Tenodera sinensis
- Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology: Salt marsh harvest mouse
- Nematode Collection: Hookworm
- Center for Plant Diversity: Seed cone of a gray pine
- Marine Invertebrates Collection: California sea cucumber (included on bus but this collection will not be included at the Biodiversity Museum Day)
The UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day promises to be educational, informative and entertaining. Scientists will be there to greet and talk to the visitors. Admission is free, as is the parking. Side trips or tours of some of the facilities or collections, including the Bohart Museum of Entomology, Botanical Conservatory, Arboretum and Public Garden, and the yeast collection are planned but not yet scheduled.
This event is open to the public, but to gain admission, all visitors are required to adhere to UC Davis COVID-19 policies and practices. Currently, this means wearing appropriate masks, being fully vaccinated or showing a recent negative test, and being approved to enter the campus via the Daily Symptom Survey. Attendees are expected to be primarily those associated with the UC Davis and Davis communities. (The general public will have an opportunity to see these displays and more at the 108th annual UC Davis Picnic Day, a campuswide open house on April 23.)
Want to support the annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day? Please consider donating to the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum 2022 Crowdfund by accessing https://bit.ly/3HPhSaA. You can be anonymous in name or contribution, or you can add your name to the donor wall in honor of someone, or in memory of a loved one. The Crowdfund ends at 12:59 p.m. on Feb. 28.
Contributions from $5 on up are welcome, said project managers Tabatha Yang, education and public outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology, and Rachel Davis, a GATEways horticulturist and museum scientist at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.
"Donations will not only help us sustain the free, in-person event, it will enable our student interns to take science outreach to a whole new level," they said. "The goal of our event is to connect people from all walks of life to science and the biodiversity surrounding them. All donors will be recognized on the Biodiversity Museum Day social media accounts with a shout-out post."
Any amount is appreciated: $5 will get you into the Fantastic Yeasts category; $10, the Sprout (Valley Oaks) category; $25, the Bumble Bee category; and $50, the Jeweled Spider Fly category. Other categories include Atlati, California Condor, and Smilodon. The goal: $5000.
For more information, access the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day website and/or connect with Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
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