Dr. Carmia S. Feldman has been selected as director of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. The appointment marks a new chapter for an organization that has become nationally recognized for its innovation in public engagement, student leadership, and sustainable land management—and for Feldman, a leader who has long helped make that success possible.

After more than a quarter century of visionary leadership at UC Davis, Kathleen Socolofsky, assistant vice chancellor and director of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, is retiring—leaving behind not only a transformed campus landscape, but a reimagined way of thinking about the role gardens and landscapes can play in academic life, student development, and community connection.

Kathleen Socolofsky, assistant vice chancellor and director of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, has received the Lifetime Achievement Stewardship Award at the UC Davis Foundation Board’s 2024 Faculty and Staff Stewardship Awards Luncheon on October 19.

In a remarkable testament to her impact at UC Davis and beyond, Kathleen Socolofsky was awarded the American Public Gardens Association’s highest honor, the Honorary Life Member Award.

This month, we extend special thanks to our friends and fans in Yolo County who recently named the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden as the best "Shelter-at-Home Escape" and the "Best Place to Take an Out-of-Towner" in the Davis Enterprise "Best of Yolo" voting.

Thank you to those who have supported us by shopping our online plant sale with curbside pickup. So far, the online sale has been very successful! We are especially grateful for all who are shopping, as we lost the revenue of our entire spring plant sale season due to the pandemic.

Our staff has been busy creating our new Plant Sale online store with contactless curbside pickup at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery. We are excited to thank all our Friends members by giving them first access to the new store during the fall. 

During these unprecedented times, we want to make sure that visitors to the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden follow the latest public health guidance.

We continue to care deeply about the health of our community and slowing the spread of COVID-19 is our highest priority. For that reason, we are asking all our visitors to follow proper social distancing guidelines if you are visiting the Arboretum and Public Garden spaces such as the Arboretum proper and the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve.

We continue to care deeply about the health of our community and slowing the spread of COVID-19 is our highest priority. For that reason, we are asking all our visitors to follow proper social distancing guidelines if you are visiting the Arboretum and Public Garden spaces such as the Arboretum proper and the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve.