The Bohart Museum Society of the Bohart Museum of Entomology honored UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Lynn Kimsey, the retired director of both the museum and the society, at its annual pre-Halloween party at the Bohart Museum.
Kimsey, who retired as the museum's director in February, 2024 after 32 years, stepped down last week as the society director, but will continue writing the newsletters. To date, she has written more than 100 newsletters. (See archives)
For the occasion, Kimsey dressed as a cecropia moth, while husband/forensic entomologist Robert "Bob" Kimsey wore his traditional Ghillie suit. Both transitioned to emeriti, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT-NEM), in 2024.
Guests donned costumes depicting pirates, beetles, a wizard, a carpenter bee and more. Some came as themselves.
A 12-foot-high skeleton, "Skelly," loaned by the Kimseys, towered over the guests in the Academic Surge hallway. Skelly, featured in Wikipedia, is a popular lawn ornament from Home Depot that has gained international stature. The Kimseys bought it for their son's birthday, and now it is his to display.
Director of both the Bohart Museum and the Bohart Museum Society is Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of Systemics, ENT-NEM, and executive associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He also serves as president of the American Arachnological Society.
The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, UC Davis campus, holds the seventh largest insect collection in North America, with more than eight million insect specimens. It also maintains a live petting zoo, which includes Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas.
(Photos by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
