When Jack Henderson graduated from UC Davis in 1983, he did not expect to stick around. Nor did he expect that one day he would be wearing a kilt while tossing cabers the size of small telephone poles in places throughout the country.

Henderson had once planned on joining a biotech company after college. However, he is still on campus and this month will celebrate 20 years as a staff research associate in the animal science department.

In his Meyer Hall lab, Henderson is all business. But once he leaves campus, he has a rather unique hobby that takes up much of his free time -- Scottish Highland games. Henderson has been heaving stones and tossing hammers for 13 years. He takes part in 10 to 12 competitions a year. Last week he traveled to Springfield, Ill., to compete in the World Championship Masters Competition.

He also is athletic director for highland games set for Sept. 27 in Dixon.

Henderson got started in Highland games by luck. "I had seen events a couple of times and I was interested," he said.

Then one day, driving by a park in Carmichael, he happened to see a man throwing a caber -- a long heavy wooden pole used in one of the about nine Highland games events. Henderson stopped and talked to the man, who told him about a games competition coming up that weekend. Henderson decided it was worth a try. "I just showed up and tried it, and I got hooked," he said.

In Illinois, the caber Henderson was throwing measured 17 feet long and weighed 100 pounds. Competitors send the poles flipping end over end and are judged on the accuracy and distance of their throws.

After earning his degree in biochemistry, Henderson remained in Davis for a summer job in the same lab where he still works with Professor Barry Wilson. At the end of the summer, he was asked to stay. And he has.

"To think that it's been 20 years is mind-boggling," he said. "It's gone by too fast."

Henderson works in the field of pesticide safety. He is currently dealing with levels of pesticides in storm runoff and has been working with the state on standardizing the monitoring of agricultural workers who may be exposed to pesticides.

However, his lab is always receiving unique new projects, he said. "I like the fact that it's not the same thing all the time," he said. "We get new projects; there are new elements."

In addition to other lab staff research associates, Henderson works with two graduate students. Interacting with them, he said, is one of the best things about his job.

"They bring a lot of new ideas. It kind of keeps the atmosphere fresh," he said -- even after 20 years.