Winery-brewery-food lab grand opening Jan. 28

RSVPs are due by Jan. 17 for the official grand opening of the Robert Mondavi Institute's newest facilities: the Teaching and Research Winery, and the August A. Busch III Brewing and Food Science Laboratory.

The grand opening is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the RMI courtyard, with a reception and tours to follow. RSVPs should be directed to eventrsvp@ucdavis.edu. Please type “Grand Opening” in the subject line of your reply.

The winery, brewery and food processing complex recently received LEED Platinum status — the highest environmental rating awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council.

No other winery, brewery or food processing facility in the world has achieved platinum status in the LEED program (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

More about the RMI's green innovation.

The Pantry's opening delayed to Jan. 13

The Pantry, offering food and toiletries to UC Davis students, is now scheduled to open on Thursday, Jan. 13.

Hannah Kirshner said she and co-founder Justin Gold had hoped to open The Pantry on Jan. 4; however, the space at 21 Lower Freeborn Hall still needs a final inspection, and that was not scheduled until this morning (Jan. 7).

"The Pantry is a unique response by the UC Davis community to provide students with a new form of aid in these difficult economic times," said Kirshner, who has been named director of The Pantry.

Gold is a student assistant to the chancellor.

Kirshner said plans call for The Pantry to be open from noon to 2 p.m. on weekdays. It will carry a menu of about 30 food items as well as some toiletries, for students with current UC Davis identification cards.

The Pantry is a collaboration of the ASUCD, the Community Advising Network of Counseling and Psychological Services, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs.

Organizers are inviting members of the campus community to volunteer to help staff the pantry, participate in food drives and contribute financially. More information is available on The Pantry website.

Food drives bring in 1,500 pounds

Three holiday food drives — run by Mail Services and Campus Recreation — brought in more than 1,500 pounds of food for Yolo and Sacramento county food banks.

Mail Services collected 730 pounds of food on the Davis campus and 320 pounds on the Sacramento campus. The Davis donations went to the Food Bank of Yolo County, while the Sacramento donations went to the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services.

Mail Services has been running its holiday food drive for five years now. Employees collect the food during their normal rounds of delivering and picking up mail.

“Between the two groups (Davis and Sacramento campuses) we collect roughly 210 pounds of food per day,” said Jen Carmichael, general manager of Distribution Services.

“We have collected more food every year, and we hope to continue next November,” she said.

Campus Recreation reported collecting 546 pounds of food at three drop-off points: the Activities and Recreation Center, the Craft Center and Outdoor Adventures. The food went to the
Food Bank of Yolo County.

“Thank you for your support and participation,” officials said in this month’s Campus Recreation eGuide.

Beer for a butterfly

Art Shapiro is running his 40th annual Cabbage White Butterfly Competition — offering a pitcher of beer to whoever brings in the first live specimen of the season.

Shapiro, a professor of evolution and ecology, is in the field more than 200 days every year, and he almost always wins his own contest. Nevertheless, he enlists public involvement "because I have that much more confidence that I am tracking the actual seasonality of this common ‘bug.’”

The specimen must be delivered live, and it must have been captured in Yolo, Solano or Sacramento counties.

Shapiro sponsors the contest to draw attention to Pieris rapae and its first flight, in furtherance of his long-term studies of butterfly life cycles and climate.

“Such studies are especially important to help us understand biological responses to climate change,” he said. “The cabbage white is now emerging a week or so earlier on average than it did 30 years ago here.”

If you snag a cabbage white, bring it to the receptionist in the Department of Evolution and Ecology, 2320 Storer Hall, during the business hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Be sure to note the precise location and time of the find.

If you capture a cabbage white on a Saturday or Sunday, or a holiday, or cannot deliver the specimen on the day you catch it, refrigerate it; do not freeze it. “It will keep up to a few days that way,” Shapiro said.

— Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, Department of Entomology

Collegiate FFA chapter established

UC Davis, a leading agricultural institution, now has a chapter of the Future Farmers of America.

“Students with a passion for leadership and the agriculture industry have stepped up” to develop the collegiate chapter, a news release states.

Agriculture is the FFA’s focus, of course, but all students in all majors are invited to participate — and gain from the organization’s emphasis on leadership, personal growth and career success.

At this time, organizers are planning recruitment and professional development activities to take place in the winter and spring quarters.

The group has already had two meetings and elected its first slate of officers. Other interested students are invited to get involved in winter quarter.

The officers, with their class years and majors:

• President — Adrienne Bradley, freshman, agricultural and environmental education
• Vice president — Jacob Gomez, freshman, animal science
• Secretary — Kiah Twisselman, freshman, undeclared
• Treasurer — Sarah Warren, junior, agricultural and environmental education
• Reporters — Sarena Grossjan, freshman, animal science; and Margery Magill, freshman, international agricultural development
• Sentinel — Isai Herrera, freshman, animal science

Meeting dates and times vary; the location is usually 174 AOB4, the School of Education. For more information, contact Adrienne Bradley, president, at arbradley@ucdavis.edu.