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‘Plant Diversity’ topic of this year’s Plant Sciences Symposium

This year, we are excited for the 2024 UC Davis Plant Sciences Symposium to represent work across the plant sciences with the theme, “Plant diversity from genes to ecosystems.”

The event is this Friday, April 11, in the Walter A. Buehler Alumni Center. Registration and coffee start at 8 a.m., with the event opening at 8:45 a.m. Jason Rauscher will speak; he’s the R&D academic relations lead for our event’s core partner Corteva Agriscience. The day includes speakers, poster sessions and networking.

You can pop corn grown on campus lands

Each spring, crews with the UC Davis Department of Plant Science plant popping corn on campus farmland west of campus, then harvest it in the fall. The next spring, that same corn shows up for one of the most popular exhibits during Picnic Day: the corn shelling machine, in front of the Plant and Environmental Sciences building.

Visitors grab a few ears of this special corn and toss them down a shaft. Two mighty wheels break the kernels off the cobs and spit the cobs out one chute. Down a second chute clatter the kernels, which are scooped into a bag for folks to take home.