The 12th annual Biodiversity Museum Day takes place on Saturday, Feb. 18. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)Are you ready for the 12th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day?
Plans are being finalized for the popular "Day of Science."
Scheduled Saturday, Feb. 18, it is billed as a “free, family friendly educational event for the community where visitors get to meet and talk with UC Davis scientists and see amazing objects and organisms from the world around us,” according to Biodiversity Museum Day chair Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
Eleven museums or collections on campus will showcase their work:
Arboretum and Public Garden, Habitat Gardens in the Environmental GATEway, adjacent to the Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
A Minke whale that died in November 1990 was infected with ascaridoid nematodes (shown).Bohart Museum of Entomology, Room 1124 and main hall of the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
A great horned owl at the Raptor Center is a key attraction. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)The UC Davis Bee Haven and the Viticulture and Enology Collection will not be participating this year.
The UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day is traditionally held on Presidents' Day Weekend at various venues on campus. The 2022 event, however, took place March 6 in the UC Davis Conference Center and drew some 1000 visitors. This year, it's back home to the individual departments where scientists will be on hand to greet visitors and answer questions.
Many middle school and high school students attend the event to take the opportunity to consider careers in science.
All participating museums and collections have active education and outreach programs, Yang said, but the collections are not always accessible to the public.
