UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Diane Ullman (right) and assistant professor Emily Meineke, entomologists and artists, exult following the 2023 completion of their ceramic-mosaic mural, “The Secret Life of Vineyards,” installed at the Mathaiasson Winery on Dry Creek Road, Napa. It depicts more than 80 arthropods (insects, spiders and centipedes), several bird species, mammals (bobcat, deer, rabbits, squirrels, a pocket gopher), a gopher snake, mycorrhizal fungi and even earthworms, (Photo by Ga
UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Diane Ullman (right) and assistant professor Emily Meineke, both entomologists and artists, exult following the 2023 completion of their ceramic-mosaic mural, “The Secret Life of Vineyards,” installed at the Mathaiasson Winery on Dry Creek Road, Napa. It depicts more than 80 arthropods (insects, spiders and centipedes), several bird species, mammals (bobcat, deer, rabbits, squirrels, a pocket gopher), a gopher snake, mycorrhizal fungi and even earthworms, (Photo by Gale Okumura)

'Dancing in the Borderland: the Past, Present and Future'

Entomologists-Artists Diane Ullman and Emily Meineke to Give Online Presentation, Sponsored by WEAD

  • by Kathy Keatley Garvey
UC Davis distinguished emerita Diane Ullman (right) with assistant professor Emily Meineke at a Department of Entomology and Nematology retirement party. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Diane Ullman (right) with assistant professor Emily Meineke at a Department of Entomology and Nematology retirement party in 2024. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

(Register at https://tinyurl.com/hmbnehnu. Registration ends March 23)

UC Davis entomologists-artists Diane Ullman and Emily Meineke will discuss their innovative art--connecting science with art--at an online presentation to be hosted Sunday, March 23 by the international WEAD (Women Eco Artists Dialog).

The event,  "Dancing in the Borderland: the Past, Present and Future Art and Science in Innovative Teaching," will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time.  

Ullman is a UC Davis distinguished professor emerita who retired from the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT) in June 2024 after serving on the faculty for three decades. She specialized in insect/virus/plant interactions and the development of management strategies for insect-transmitted plant pathogens. 

Meineke, an assistant professor who joined the department in 2020,  is an urban landscape entomologist.

Ullman recalls that her vision of a class using art to teach insect science sprang to life in 1995 when she and self-described "rock artist" Donna Billick of Davis engaged in a a late-night epiphany. The result: they founded and co-taught the UC Davis undergraduate course,  Entomology (ENT) 001, "Art, Science and the World of Insects," and the UC Davis Art-Science Fusion Program rose from that.

 Meineke began co-teaching the class with Ullman in 2022. One result:  "Secret Life of Vineyards," a 10 x 6-foot mural installed in 2023 on an outer wall of the Matthiasson Winery on Dry Creek Road, Napa. It includes more than 80 arthropods (insects, spiders and centipedes), several bird species, mammals (bobcat, deer, rabbits, squirrels, a pocket gopher), a gopher snake, mycorrhizal fungi and  earthworms. Ullman, Meineke and colleague Gale Okumura worked with the ENT class and community members on the project. 

"This mural is a perfect example, showing how UC Davis and the Napa Valley community joined together to create a work that will inspire generations," UC Davis Chancellor Gary May told the crowd at the art unveiling at the winery. "It's not just the colors and textures that draw you in. There's a fascinating story here about sustainability and environmental stewardship. It's about the connectedness of insects, microbes and humans that are at the heart of Napa wine country--and the world beyond. As you look at the mural, you'll see how the ecosystem in an organic vineyard progresses through the harvest season. The artwork contains more than 80 insects, mammals, several bird species and so many other creatures that contribute to biodiversity and balance in the ecosystem."

During her career, Ullman worked with many insect vector species, including thrips, aphids, whiteflies, leafhoppers, mealybugs) and the plant pathogens they transmit (viruses, phytoplasma and bacteria). During the past 30 years she delved deeply into world of thrips and the orthotospoviruses they transmit.

 Meineke researches plant-herbivore relationships. She focuses on species "that are of cultural importance, such as street trees, crops, crop wild relatives, and plants that support rare insect species. Her lab combines experiments, observations, citizen science, and biological collections to address key hypotheses in ecology.

WEAD noted that Ullman's "insect-themed lectures combined with hands-on studio sessions synergized creativity and led to exciting individual student projects and collaborations resulting in large-scale public artworks permanently installed in Washington D.C., the Davis community and the UC Davis campus, as well as formation of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program."

Meineke is carrying forward the connections between art and science. The Ullman-Meineke presentation "celebrates the creation of this teaching paradigm, its accomplishments and its future," WEAD related.  Registration is under way here until March 23. Donations are encouraged.

Brief Biographies
Diane Ullman
UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita

Ullman, co-founder and director of the UC Davis Art-Science Fusion Program since September 2006, says her passion "is connecting art and science in education and public art." She holds a bachelor of science degree in horticulture (University of Arizona) and a doctorate in entomology from UC Davis.  Ullman joined the UC Davis faculty in 1995 after serving on the faculty of University of Hawaii.  She chaired the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 2004-2005, and served as associate dean for undergraduate academic programs for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences from 2005-2014. Ullman is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, since 2014, and the Entomological Society of America (ESA), since 2011. Ullman has received multiple teaching awards, including the ESA National Excellence in Teaching Award in 2014.

Emily Meineke
Assistant Professor

"I am an entomologist who studies insect-plant interactions under human influence," Meineke writes. "My research focuses on plant species, such as street trees, crops, crop wild relatives and plants that support rare insect species. I have been able to study the change in insect populations over long stretches of time by examining the damage they left behind on herbarium specimens. I have a deep interest in the connections between art and science. I’ve been able to connect my work examining the changes in species populations from herbarium specimens with art, for example. working in collaboration with artists Leah Sobsey and Robin Vuchnich to bring In Search of Thoreau’s Flowers: An Exploration of Change and Loss to the Harvard Museum of Natural History. At the foundation of this exhibit are the specimens, many from Thoreau, in the Harvard University Herbaria. My passion for these connections led me to innovative teaching strategies, including teaching 'Art, Science and the World of Insects' at University of California, Davis."

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