Since the Arboretum and Public Garden department joined Facilities Management in November 2023, we have welcomed many wonderful staff members to the team! One exceptional team member is Kathleen Socolofsky, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Director of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. We sat down with Kathleen to learn more about her role and the 26 years she has spent at UC Davis. 

Kathleen started as the director of the Arboretum in 1998, where she worked with a small group of staff. She was then given the role of Assistant Vice Chancellor, moving into a partnership with campus planning to do work across campus. In 2011 she was asked to manage the grounds and landscape team as well under the expanded unit called “Arboretum and Public Garden.” During her time in this role, Kathleen pioneered the Arboretum GATEways Project, an interdisciplinary program aimed at using gardens, arts, and the environment to showcase the spirit of UC Davis! 

The GATEways Project started in 2006 after campus planners proposed making the Arboretum part of the “front door” to the UC Davis campus. At this time, the landscape around the area was not well-developed and the Arboretum was not as integrated into campus, often thought of as being at the back. Kathleen developed the GATEways project to allow departments near the Arboretum to “tell their stories” through landscaping! She worked with students, staff, and researchers to find the best ways to incorporate their work into the environment surrounding them. For example, as part of GATEways, students in the Arboretum and Public Garden’s Learning by Leading™ Program are currently working at the Gorman Museum of Native American Art to develop their landscape. The team is planting indigenous plants and working with students from the Native American Academic Student Success Center to tell their story. Through these projects, the UC Davis campus acts as a “living museum”, where important work can be showcased to the public through the campus landscape. Kathleen is very proud of the work her team has done through the GATEways Project and expressed excitement about the next phase, which focuses on sustainability. 

Kathleen’s overall role, she says, is to lead and manage the ongoing responsibilities of maintaining the campus environment. She leads three subteams - Arboretum, Grounds & Landscape Services, and Putah Creek Riparian Reserve/Naturalized Lands - who each play important roles in campus landscaping. Kathleen is very future-focused and is guiding her teams toward the goal of a Living Landscape Adaptation Plan for Climate Change, which incorporates climate-ready trees, landscapes, and environments. She also manages the Arboretum and Public Garden fundraising program, including grants and gifts, plant sales, and memberships. 

Kathleen says her favorite part of the job is working with so many community members, volunteers, students, academics, and staff to showcase their work to the public! She is proud to be creating something bigger than herself that will have such a large impact on the future. One of her biggest challenges, however, is trying to manage the effects of climate change on the campus environment, especially with a campus of this size. This is why she is working to create the living landscape adaptation plan! She is looking forward to the transformation and is excited about working with Facilities Management to steward the campus for the future. 

One of Kathleen’s favorite projects she has done in her time here is a GATEways collaboration with entomology professor Diane Ullman and artist Donna Billick, co-leaders of the UC Davis Art-Science Fusion Program. Professor Ullman sought to teach students about entomology through art and developed several projects in which students and community members created mosaic tile murals that show plant and insect relationships. They were invited to take one of the projects all the way to the US Botanic Garden in Washington D.C., Nature’s Gallery, where it drew in more than 300,000 visitors! The mural now lives near the Ruth Risdon Storer Garden in the Arboretum. 

In addition to her many accomplishments, Kathleen is being honored with the highest award from the American Public Gardens Association, the “Honorary Life Member” Award. This prestigious award is not given annually but only when a truly deserving candidate is recognized. In their message, the association stated that Kathleen’s “career and contributions to the field of public horticulture are truly extraordinary.” Her nomination included glowing testimonials from across the country, including one from Nancy Bechtol, Director Emerita of Smithsonian Facilities, who highlighted Kathleen's exemplary leadership and mentorship in the field. She praised Kathleen as a "rock star" and lauded her innovative programs like the Learning by Leading internship program, which had a transformative impact on Smithsonian Gardens. Nancy says that Kathleen’s work, including her presentation on the GATEways Project at the Smithsonian, has established her as a visionary in integrating gardens with institutional missions, making her highly deserving of this recognition.

Kathleen is now looking forward to working with Facilities Management to continue transforming the whole UC Davis campus into a “public garden” that engages both the campus community and visitors with the cutting-edge work the university does to improve lives and address societal and environmental issues. 

When she is not hard at work managing the Arboretum and Public Garden team, Kathleen loves to travel! Most recently, she traveled to France and is planning more trips in the future. She also loves running and used to lead a running group. Kathleen either runs or walks through the campus and the Arboretum every morning to inspect it! 

Thank you so much Kathleen for all the important work you do for the Arboretum and Public Garden. We are so glad to have you on the Facilities Management team!