Hundreds of UC Davis employees and their offspring--ages 6 and over--visited sites all across campus on Thursday, April 27.
One of the most colorful sites: the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre pollinator, research and demonstration garden located on Bee Biology Road, west of the central campus.
Visitors viewed the some 200 plant species in the haven, and participated in "catch-and-release" bee observation with devices provided by the haven. They also checked out the six-foot worker bee that anchors the garden. Titled "Miss Bee Haven," it is the work of Donna Billick, a self-described "rock artist" based in Davis. The art in the garden represents both student and community work directed by entomology professor Diane Ullman and Billick, co-founders and co-directors of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program.
"Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day" (TODS) is billed as “an annual national celebration of employers hosting children at their workplace.” It's a popular event at UC Davis. TODS not only exposes youths to what their parents and their peers do at work, but it can serve as a springboard to attend college and envision their future.
- Chloe Jerng, 8, entered the haven with her dad, Mark Jerng, a UC Davis English professor.
- Samantha Morrill, 8, and her sister, Hannah, 11, joined their mother, Nicole, an employee at UC Davis Athletics
- Isla Robertson, 7, and her brother, Cameron, 4, participated with their mother, Sarah Robertson, an employee at IET Enterprise Applications and Infrastructure Services
History? The garden was installed in the fall of 2009 under the direction of Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and then interim director of the UC Davis Department of Entomology (now the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology).
A Sausalito team--landscape architects Donald Sibbett and Ann F. Baker, interpretative planner Jessica Brainard and exhibit designer Chika Kurotaki--won the design competition. as judged by Professor Kimsey; founding garden manager Missy Borel (now Missy Borel Gable), now statewide director of the UC Master Gardeners' Program; David Fujino, executive director, California Center for Urban Horticulture at UC Davis; Aaron Majors, construction department manager, Cagwin & Dorward Landscape Contractors, based in Novato; Diane McIntyre, senior public relations manager, Häagen-Dazs ice cream; Heath Schenker, professor of environmental design, UC Davis; Jacob Voit, sustainability manager and construction project manager, Cagwin and Dorward Landscape Contractors; and Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
The garden is now managed by program representative/entomologist Christine Casey, and faculty director Elina Niño, Extension apiculturist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, the haven is open to the public from dawn to dusk for self-guided tours. Admission is free. For information on guided tours (a fee applies), plants, bee gardening classes, docents and donations, access the website, Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven.
Attached Images:
Mother Sarah Robertson supervises her daughter, Isla, 7, and son, Cameron, 4, as they use a catch-and-release device to observe bees up close. Sarah Robertson works at IET Enterprise Applications and Infracture Services. (Photos by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Chloe Jerng, 8, gets ready to use a catch-and-release device in the haven with her dad, Mark Jerng, an English professor.
Chloe Jerng, 8, of Davis, who is doing research on bees for a school project, scoops up a honey bee in a catch-and-release device for up-close observation.
California golden poppies, the state flower, glow at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven.