Scientists in the collection made beautiful art using live yeasts that are naturally different colors including white, cream, pink and red.

Explore UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day — Saturday, February 21, 2026 (FREE!)

  • by Kyria Boundy-Mills
Kid-friendly activities include coloring a drawing of a yeast cell and looking at yeasts, and bacteria under a microscope.
Kid-friendly activities include coloring a drawing of a yeast cell and looking at yeasts, and bacteria under a microscope.

Twelve UC Davis biological collections — including the Phaff Yeast Culture Collection — will host open houses on the same day as part of Biodiversity Museum Day, Saturday, February 21, 2026. This annual, free public event is a fantastic chance to meet scientists, learn about current discoveries at UC Davis, and explore facilities that are usually closed to visitors.

Yeast Collection Open House: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

RMI Brewery, Winery, and Food Processing (BWF) Building

What you’ll see and do at the Yeast Collection

Visitors can:

  • Tour the UC Davis teaching brewery and winery
  • Taste Vegemite and kombucha
  • See many species of yeast under the microscope
  • Enjoy some truly terrible (and wonderful) yeast jokes
  • Learn how UC Davis researchers use yeasts to make new discoveries
  • View displays of newly discovered fats and oils made by yeasts

Event Schedule (BWF Building)

  • Continual: Tours of the UC Davis Teaching & Research Winery — the first LEED Platinum winery
  • Brewery Tours: 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 12:30, 1:00, and 1:30
  • Noon Talk: Food Science Classroom 1106 (BWF)
    “How Scientists Name New Yeast Species” — Dr. Kyria Boundy-Mills, Curator, Phaff Yeast Culture Collection

Finding Us

Phaff collection curator Kyria Boundy-Mills loves to share our discoveries made using yeasts from the collection, including some new fats and oils.
Phaff collection curator Kyria Boundy-Mills loves to share our discoveries made using yeasts from the collection, including some new fats and oils. 

Yeast exhibits will be in the Food Science classroom and the Winery classroom in the BWF Building, one of the orange Robert Mondavi Institute buildings at Old Davis Road and Hilgard Lane. Follow the A-frame signs to find the Brewery, Winery and Food Processing building. 
Parking is available in the surface lots on Hilgard Lane. Just follow the event signs once you arrive.

Explore All Twelve Collections

Other UC Davis collections will also be open across campus, featuring plants, birds, mammals, insects, nematodes, and more. Full details and maps: https://biodiversitymuseumday.ucdavis.edu

At different locations you can:

  • Handle dinosaur fossils
  • See birds of prey up close
  • Learn what carnivorous plants eat
  • Meet insects that look like sticks or leaves

Note: Different collections are open at different times, so please check the map and schedule as you plan your day.

With Thanks

Thank you to Novonesis and White Labs for their generous support of the yeast exhibit.

Visitors can enjoy the powerful flavor of yeast in vegemite, marmite, and miso paste.
Visitors can enjoy the powerful flavor of yeast in vegemite, marmite, and miso paste.
Visitors can answer yeast trivia questions to collect prizes.
Visitors can answer yeast trivia questions to collect prizes.