UC Davis will hold its seventh annual Biodiversity Museum Day, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, welcoming the public to see what the university collects and studies from the natural world. Parking and admission are free to this family friendly event.

Visitors will have access to 13 museums and collections and their range of displays including dinosaur bones, nematodes, honeybees, hawks, yeast cultures, carnivorous plants and new California condor specimens.

Seven of the museums and collections will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the others from noon to 4 p.m. All but two are within walking distance of one another on the main campus. See map here (PDF).

Arboretum and Public Garden

• 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• The arboretum will celebrate Biodiversity Museum Day in the Good Life Garden at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.
• Plant your very own, pollinator friendly California poppy or showy milkweed in an upcycled, self-decorated pot.

Bohart Museum of Entomology

• 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• 1124 Academic Surge
• Global collection of nearly 8 million insect specimens.
• Biodiversity Museum Day highlights include 500,000-specimen butterfly/moth collection, curated by entomologist Jeff Smith; and a Belize insect collection display by Smith and Bohart associates Fran Keller and Dave Wyatt from their latest expedition.

Student to Share His Praying Mantis Collection

UC Davis entomology major Lohitashwa “Lohit” Garikipati, who will be displaying his praying mantis collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during Biodiversity Museum Day, is keenly interested in sharing information about insects. Click this box for story and more photos.

Botanical Conservatory

• Noon-4 p.m.
• Kleiber Hall Drive
• Featuring carnivorous plants; fruiting specimens of chocolate and coffee; cacti, succulents and other desert dwellers; and an assortment of winter-blooming South African bulbs.

From Coleus Collection to a Global Greenhouse

The collection began in 1959 with coleus plants within the 3,600-square-foot greenhouse now known as the Botanical Conservatory. Today, it serves the university and public communities as an educational facility, research resource and genetic diversity preserve. The complex houses more than 3,000 plant species in more than 150 families, including examples from most of the world’s climatic regions.

California Raptor Center
and Museum

• 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• 1340 Equine Lane, off Old Davis Road south of campus
• Directions
• Google Map

Rescue and Respite for Birds of Prey

This is Jack, a red-tailed hawk, at the School of Veterinary Medicine’s California Raptor Center, an educational and research facility dedicated to the rehabilitation of sick, injured and orphaned birds of prey. The center takes in 300 to 350 raptors each year, and succeeds in releasing about 60 percent back to the wild. Jack is among the permanent residents.

Center for Plant Diversity

• Noon-4 p.m.
• 1026 Sciences Laboratory Building
• Hmong medicinal and culinary herbs on display.
• Examine plants under microscope.
• Plant-pressing and mounting demonstrations, and plant-pressing for children.

Department of
Anthropology Museum

• Noon-4 p.m.
• Young Hall, inside and outside

• Flintknapping, atlatl toss and scavenger hunt, plus biological anthropology lab, archaeology lab, zooarchaeology lab and Inuit art exhibit.

Design Museum

• Noon-4 p.m.
• 124 Cruess Hall

It’s Bugged! Insects’ Role in Design

This image by Alex Wild is part of It’s Bugged! Insects’ Role in Design, on display through April 22 at the Design Museum. The museum is a “special guest” in this year's Biodiversity Museum Day. Click this box for story and more photos.

Häagen-Dazs
Honey Bee Haven

• Noon-4 p.m.
• Bee Biology Road west of campus
• Google Map

• Activities include catch-and-release bee viewing. Also, make “Feed the Bees” seed cookies.

Museum of
Fish and Wildlife Biology

• 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• 1394 Academic Surge
• The museum has new California condor specimens.
• Other specimens include Papua New Guinea birds and mammals, reptiles and amphibians, primates and marine fishes.
• Bird and mammal taxidermy demonstrations.

Nematode Collection

• Noon-4 p.m.
• Sciences Laboratory Building
• Live and preserved nematode specimens. Highlights include huge jars of whale intestinal worms.

Paleobiology Collection

• 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Earth and Physical Sciences Building
• Fossil specimens dating back as far as 550 million years.

Phaff Yeast Culture Collection

Viticulture and Enology
Culture Collection

• Two collections in a joint exhibition
• 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Robert Mondavi Institute Brewery, Winery and Food Pilot Facility
• Dozens of yeast species to see and smell, and information on how yeasts and bacteria are important for making fermented foods and beverages (even clothes can be made from microbes).
• Taste Vegemite and Marmite, and kombucha tea.
• Brewery and winery tours.
• Children’s coloring activities.

What Do Beer, Bread, Wine and Cactus Have in Common?

They are sources of yeast in the Phaff Yeast Culture Collection, one of the largest collections of wild yeast in the world. Academic and industrial researchers draw from the collection for a variety of research and applications, including pigments, enzymes, food ingredients and hosts for protein expression.

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