Collections - A Special Reception at CCBER
I was invited to attend and to take photos of a special reception at CCBER on Thursday, November 8, 2007. The invitation read:
“The Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration is hosting a reception to highlight recent developments at the Center including two new displays—“The John Bleck Seed Collection” and “Mirabilia Naturae” (wonders of nature), a collaborative project with CCBER, the University Art Museum, and Dr. Mark Meadow.”
The reception began at 3pm, and in addition to existing displays, there were three new featured cases, as well as new single-display panels and stand-alone boards for the reception.
(Reception entry)
John Bleck answered questions at the new “The John Bleck Seed Collection” display in the northern part of the passageway that surrounds the central area of the CCBER offices on all sides and provides lengthy walls for displays.
(John Bleck answering questions at the seed collection display.)
In the eastern part of the passageway, two new cases were added — one for “Mirabilia Naturae” and another featuring the life’s work of an emeritus faculty Barbara DeWolfe.
(Part of the “Mirabilia Naturae” display case)
Barbara DeWolfe, 95, attended the reception, and was obviously delighted with the contents of the Barbara B. DeWolfe cabinet. Barbara DeWolfe was Professor of Zoology at UCSB from 1946-1977, and studied white-crowned sparrows amongst other species.
(Barbara DeWolfe pointing to the display about her work.)
A quote from July 7, 2000 issue of “The Chronicle” in an article titled “What the White-Crowned Sparrow’s Song Can Teach Us About Human Language” by Luis F. Baptista:
“Barbara DeWolfe, of the University of California at Santa Barbara, has shown that white-crowned sparrows from Puget Sound, in Washington State, sing very different songs from those living in Berkeley or Carmel, Calif., even though the birds from Puget Sound migrate to the San Francisco Bay area in the fall and winter and mingle with the Berkeley and Carmel sparrows there. I subsequently discovered three distinct dialects in San Francisco itself.”
(Part of the Barbara B DeWolfe exhibit )
Other displays showcased the on-line library catalog and archival work being done by Laurie Hannah, librarian, and the Campus Flora project interactive map created by Bree Belyea. To read more about the Campus Flora Project please see Volume 2 of the CCBER newsletter here. John Bleck, Greenhouse Manager at UCSB from 1978-1992, was responsible for planting the unique and diverse species that are found on the campus today.
(Bree Belyea, Manager of the Campus Flora Project, with a Google map of the campus flora distribution.)
There were many informational exhibits of the ongoing work at CCBER, including those about restoration, native plants, management of various areas on campus, Chumash heritage, interpretive signs, and specimens from some of the many CCBER collections. I tried to photograph as much as I could of both people and displays, but there were too many of the latter to do full justice to them.
(Native Plant interpretive sign)
(Kelly Campbell, at right, is the graphic artist at CCBER. She is standing next to her father, Tom Campbell, and colleague Janet Myers.)
(Jennifer Thorsch, Director of CCBER, is responsible for the coordination of the excellent work done by those who work at CCBER. Jennifer is seen standing between two of the new displays for Mirabilia Naturae and Barbara B DeWolfe.)
The CCBER website is still under development, but a good deal of information has been added to it. It can be seen here.
Links of Interest
Sounds like a wonderful event! Thanks for sharing with us!
November 12th, 2007 | #