News flash: This year, at the 13th annual Biodiversity Museum Day, set Saturday, Feb. 10, visitors are bound to marvel at "A Bird's Eye View."
It's an epic large-scale ceramic-mosaic of raptors (and insects) that's newly installed on an outside wall of the visitors' center. It pays tribute to "the interactions between insects and birds," said UC Davis distinguished professor Diane Ullman, an internationally recognized entomologist and artist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
It's primarily the work of UC Davis students in the Entomology 001 course, "Art, Science and the World of Insects," a general education class taught by Ullman and supported by the department.
Ullman and Gale Okumura, a visual communicator and a retired faculty member in the UC Davis Department of Design, led the project and created pieces, as did others from UC Davis and members of the community.
Ullman describes "A Bird's Eye View" as "an epic large-scale mural, 8-feet tall and 22-feet wide, made of more than 1300 handmade ceramic relief artworks, tiles and trim pieces."
"The mural celebrates 11 key raptor species found in California and 84 insect species that are either parasites of these raptors or eaten by them," Ullman said.
More information--illustrated with photos--will be posted next week on the UC Davis Entomology and Nematology website (and on Bug Squad blog).
The Raptor Center will be open from 9 a.m. 3 p.m., Feb. 10 during the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day. ""Our non-releasable ambassador raptors can be seen on exhibit, and several of our glove-trained ambassador raptors will be out with their handlers throughout the day," said Julie Cotton, co-manager of operations. "Visitors will have the opportunity to see multiple native raptor species up close and talk to our experts. We are happy to answer questions about birds of prey! Our small on-site museum will also be open with taxidermy specimens and interactive raptor-related activities."
Meanwhile, what is the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day? It's like a Super Science Day. This year 10 museums and collections will be featured. It's a great opportunity to talk to UC Davis scientists and see their work, and it's free and family friendly.
- Anthropology Museum, 328 Young Hall and grounds, open from noon to 4 p.m.
- Arboretum and Public Garden, Habitat Gardens in the Environmental GATEway, adjacent to the Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Bohart Museum of Entomology, Room 1124 and main hall of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Botanical Conservatory, the greenhouses along Kleiber Hall Drive, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- California Raptor Center, 1340 Equine Lane, off Old Davis Road, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Located three miles south of the central campus.)
- Center for Plant Diversity, Katherine Esau Science Hall off Kleiber Hall Drive, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Nematode Collection (part of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology), Katherine Esau Science Hall, off Kleiber Hall Drive, 10 am. to 2 p.m.
- Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Room 1394, Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Paleontology Collection, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 1309 Earth and Physical Sciences Building, 434 LaRue Road, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Phaff Yeast Culture Collection, Robert Mondavi Institute Brewery and Food Processing facility, Old Davis Road, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
See Biodiversity Museum Day website for more information and to download a map, which shows the locations, where food purchases are available, and free parking lots. The map points out grayed-out parking lots that may require paid parking.
Last year's Biodiversity Museum Day drew some 4000 people, said chair and co-founder Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart of Museum of Entomology. See Biodiversity Museum Day website for more information and to download a map, which shows the locations, where food purchases are available, and free parking lots. The map points out grayed-out parking lots that may require paid parking.
And when you visit the California Raptor Center (part of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine) be sure to see the "Bird's Eye View." Absolutely incredible!
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