Programs

2026 Participating Museums

Anthropology Museum (returning this year!)

• Times 12:00-4:00 pm  | Wickson Hall, east entrance (Get directions)

  Anthropology is the study of what makes us human! Join us on the East side of Wickson Hall at the picnic tables to learn about and try your hand at the 3 million-old technology of stone-tool production or flintknapping. Learn about the arts through time, from Paleolithic cave paintings in France, to Canadian Inuit printmaking traditions. Join us inside the East lobby of Wickson Hall where you will see more ways humans merge art and nature through a visual exhibit prepared by student interns. Head up one flight of stairs to learn about hominin evolution through their fossil remains and about how our skeletons work. You will also learn about the archaeological history under your feet! Join us between Noon and 4 pm.

Arboretum and Public Garden

• Times 12:00-4:00 pm | Habitat Gardens in the Environmental GATEway (Get directions)

  Learn more about all the interactive exhibits offered here! The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden is a living plant museum featuring over 25 different plant collections from California and around the world. Come visit us from 12-4 pm in the Arboretum's Environmental GATEway to explore the biodiversity in our landscapes and learn more about urban habitats from our Learning by Leading students and Staff. This year, our theme is Nature Prescription(Rx). Whether it's birding in the waterway, planting an acorn, enjoying a beginner-friendly yoga session in the lawn (2-3 pm), or envisioning your own climate-ready garden, our activities will illustrate how appreciating the biodiversity in your daily life can support your mental and physical wellbeing.

• Ceramic Mural Unveiling:  At 3:00 pm join us for an unveiling of the 2025 Art-Science Fusion mural adjacent to Professor Emily Meineke’s Climate Adaptation Living Lab (CALL) Garden. Includes brief program and refreshments.

   

Bee Haven (returning this year!)

• Times 9:00 am-1:00 pm | 1 Bee Biology Road (Get directions)

  Visit the UC Davis Bee Haven and explore a vibrant pollinator garden home to more than 200 plant species that support honeybees and native pollinators. This interdisciplinary space blends art, education, and ecological design to create meaningful habitat and learning opportunities. Guests can enjoy a hands-on experience in the garden, take home seed cookies to plant, ask questions about all things bees, and view an observation frame for a rare, up-close look at bees in their natural environment. It’s a chance to learn, connect, and be inspired by the world of pollinators. Hours: Open from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Please note: restrooms are not available on site.

Bohart Museum of Entomology

• Times 12:00-4:00 pm | Academic Surge Building (Get directions) 

  Enjoy meeting scientists from all walks of life who love insects and spiders, including ants, native bees, moths and trapdoor spiders. There will be harmless live insects to hold and touch and part of the research collection will be open for visitors to view. 

Botanical Conservatory

• Times 11:00 am-3:00 pm | Kleiber Hall Drive (Get directions) 

  Walk through a tropical oasis and explore close to 4,000 different species of plants the Botanical Conservatory has on display! Along with tropical plants you will see succulents, carnivorous plants, chocolate, vanilla, the corpse plant, and more. Enter on the south side of the greenhouse between 11am and 3pm.  Staff and volunteers will be on hand to answer all your questions.  

California Raptor Center

• Times 9:00 am-3:00 pm | 1340 Equine Lane (Get directions) 

  At Biodiversity Museum Day, our educational ambassador raptors will be viewable on exhibit, with some of them out "on the glove" for up close encounters. Our ambassador birds represent 12 different species of raptor that can be found in California, from the diminutive American Kestrel to the iconic Bald Eagle. Our staff and volunteers will be available to answer questions and share information about our local birds. 

Center for Plant Diversity

• Times 10:00 am-2:00 pm | Katherine Esau Science Hall (Get directions)

  Come visit the Center for Plant Diversity. Our 300,000 specimen Herbarium is a reference library of pressed dried plants (including mosses, lichens and algae) used for research, education, and plant identification. We will have demonstrations of plant pressing and specimen mounting, an exhibit of African plants which are part of our Tropical African Plants Digitization Project, and tours of our collection room.

Design Museum

• Times 12:00-4:00 pm  | Cruess Hall, Room 124 (Get directions)
  Design Museum information here! 

  Village Homes: A Radical Plan UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day Schedule: 12:00-4:00 p.m. Design Museum open, 124 Cruess Hall; 1:00–3:15 p.m. Moo-vin’ Moo-seum open, parked outside Cruess Hall; 1:00 p.m. “Village Homes: A Radical Plan” documentary film screening, 1002 Cruess Hall Theater; 2:00 p.m. Panel discussion about the neighborhood’s influence and its future, 1002 Cruess Hall Theater; 2:30 p.m. Reception, Cruess Hall Open Lab; 4:00 p.m. event concludes. 

Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology

• Times 10:00 am-2:00 pm  | Academic Surge Building, Room 1394 (Get directions)

  Join us for a fun and educational day as you journey through our vertebrate collections, with over 70,000 specimens of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, and reptiles! This is the only day visitors will be able to go on tours of our research collections, granting a behind the scenes view of museum science. Want to visit at your own pace? We will have several stations showcasing our specimens, including bats, skulls, owls, and much much more.  Come for a hands-on experience you'll never forget! There will also be childrens crafts and live specimen preparation demonstrations, showing you the steps of museum taxidermy, from start to finish! We hope to see you there!

Nematode Collection

• Times 10:00 am-2:00 pm | Katherine Esau Science Hall (Get directions)

  Please join us for a fascinating, hands-on look at  one of the Earth's most abuntant (and least seen) forms of life! The nematode collection will be open from 10 am to 2 pm in Katherine Esau Hall, where visitors can meet scientists and explore the diversity of nematodes that parasitize both animals and plants. We will have lots of nematode samples on display, including nematodes that infect animal and plants, nematodes found in whales and fresh tomato roots infected with root-knot nematodes. The visitors will be able to get an up-close view of what these tiny organism look like and learn about the ways they infect their hosts. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and dive deep into how nematodes shape ecosystems, agriculture and animal health. Visitors will also get to collect cool nematode stickers designed by our talented undergraduate Lisa Nakano, and have fun playing with magic worms! 

Paleontology Collection

• Times 12:00-4:00 pm  | Earth and Physical Sciences Building, Room 1309 (Get directions)

  Embark on an expedition through time that spans two billion years in the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department. You will explore samples from our fossil collection that represents the entire tree of life. There will be scientists and students present to answer all of your questions and guide your journey through time. Stare down a full-size T. rex skull as you enter our building and watch out for the saber-toothed cat! There will be activities for adults and children alike. A table of samples to be touched will be waiting for you at the end of your trek. Join us between the hours of 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm.  

Phaff Yeast Culture Collection

• Times 10:00 am-2:00 pm | Robert Mondavi Institute Brewery and Food Processing Facility (Get directions)

  The Phaff Yeast Culture Collection activities will be open 10AM-2PM in the RMI Brewery, Winery and Food Processing building. Visitors will talk with scientists, learn about discoveries being made at UC Davis, and see some great facilities that are usually not open to visitors. Visitors can tour the teaching brewery and winery, taste Vegemite and Kombucha, see many different species of yeast under the microscope, laugh at some really funny yeast jokes, and learn about discoveries that are being made at UC Davis using yeasts in the Phaff Yeast Culture Collection. Newly discovered fats and oils made by yeasts will be on display.

• Tours of the UC Davis Teaching and Research Brewery: 10:30 am, 11:00 am, 11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 1:00 pm & 1:30 pm
• Tours of the UC Davis Teaching and Research Winery: Continually between 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
• Talk: 12:00 pm, Food Science Classroom, 1106 BWF building: Yeast collection curator Dr. Kyria Boundy-Mills will give a short talk, “How Scientists Name New Yeast Species”.

Speaker Series  

• Recorded video can be found here: https://youtu.be/ojEQZgEpC58

  Times 4:00-5:00 pm  | Silverado Vineyards Sensory Theater, Sensory Building, Robert Mondavi Institute (Get directions) or watch via Zoom*

  Join us for the BioDivDay Speaker Series and a journey through the big and small connections that shape our planet. In this event we will explore everything from practical conservation in Creating Your Own Pollinator Haven and the microscopic innovations of Creative Uses of Yeasts, to the hidden, essential ecosystems found Into the Nematode World. We’ll even travel back to the Cretaceous to investigate the puzzling evolution of dinosaur forelimbs. Whether you're a backyard gardener, a biotech enthusiast, or a fan of prehistoric mysteries, come discover how life on every scale keeps the world turning.

• Pallavi Shakya, doctoral candidate, lab of nematologist Shahid Siddique, "Into the Nematode World."
• Samantha "Sam" Murray, education and garden coordinator of The Bee Haven and member of the bee lab of Elina Niño, who will present "Creating Your Own Pollinator Haven"
• Tracy Thomson, UC Davis Earth and Planetary Sciences, research assistant, "Hobnobbing in the Cretaceous: What's Up With Dinosaur Forelimbs?" He will present a new hypothesis about the function of alvarezsaurid or long-legged dinosaurs.

• Kyria Boundy-Mills, collection curator and research microbiologist, Phaff Yeast Collection. "Creative Uses of Yeasts."

  *This program will also be recorded and posted after the event.