Taking Our Daughters (And Sons) to Work at UC Davis

PHOTO one: Joel Fuerte, 6, of Woodland is fascinated by the stories that children’s author S. S. Dudley is telling. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey).

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PHOTO two: Joel watches as Roxanne Bell, 7, of Davis reacts to Peaches, a rose-haired tarantula at the Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of Academic Surge on Crocker Lane. It houses nearly eight million insect specimens as well as a live “petting zoo.” Peaches is a crowd favorite. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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By Kathy Keatley Garvey:

Children’s author S. S. Dudley and rose-haired tarantulas were big hits at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during the campuswide “Take Your Daughters (and Sons) to Work” Day on Thursday, April 23 at the University of California, Davis.

Dudley, also known as Steve Stoddard, a recently retired scientist in medical entomologist Thomas Scott’s lab in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, entertained the UC Davis staff members and their offspring at three sessions. He is the author of “Butterfly Wish” and “Elf Hills.”

Joel Fuerte, 6, of Woodland, son of staff member Gabriela Sanchez Fuerte, delighted in talking to the author. He also got a kick out of Peaches, a rose-haired tarantula that’s a crowd favorite. The youngsters took turns holding her. Roxanne Bell, 7, whose mother, Jenna Bell, works at the Mondavi Center, decided that the tarantula tickles.