Leslie Davis, Willamette-blooded, Douglas fir and fern raised, makes gardens for nature’s winged-ones: bumblebees, chickadees, and your burdened mind flying free. Find out more about her business, Whole Gardens, a family run landscape design and installation business in Eugene Oregon at www.wholegardensnw.com 

Dr. Casey has a M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in entomology from the University of Maryland and the University of California, Davis respectively as well as graduate work in horticulture at Rutgers University. She has four decades of experience developing and implementing integrated pest management programs in ornamental plants and has held positions at Rutgers, University of Maryland, Cornell, and North Carolina State. Her interests included the use of beneficial insects and the interaction of horticultural practices and pest prevelance.

An interest in one important group of beneficial insects — bees – led her to join the UC Davis Bee Haven twelve years ago. Until her retirement in June 2024, she managed all aspects of the Haven including plant curation, outreach and social media, and education programs. Chris also conducted research to evaluate ornamental plants for their value as bee forage.

In her spare time Chris enjoys gardening, hiking, restoring her historic house, and volunteering with animal rescue groups.

Gerhard Bock lives in Davis, CA and chronicles his plant and gardening adventures on his blog Succulents and More. He hasn’t yet met a succulent he doesn’t like.

All photos by Gerhard Bock

Antoine Kunsch is the Community Resilience Coordinator of the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains and a Doctoral Candidate in Environmental Science and Engineering at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.  His dissertation focuses on reducing wildfire risk in wildland-urban interface communities of Southern California.

Elisa Read Pappaterra is the Horticultural Specialist at RIOS, a multidisciplinary design firm based in Los Angeles. Elisa’s landscape focused research and designs emphasize all site components and context from soil to wildlife.

Pat Dressendorfer is an avid naturalist and educator who enjoys being outdoors in places where native plants still thrive.