Roots of Hard Work
Behind the Scenes of Summer Student Landscape Assistants

October 22, 2026
Photography by Dominic Lui, Sean Rosenfeld, Delfin Kirsch, Jasmine Santos, Leilani Velasco, Daniella Nguyen, Mary-Kate O'Connor, Zoey Lee, Stacey Parker, Markus Morris and Maddie Jensen
Text by Savannah Vela

Over the summer, 13 UC Davis students joined the Arboretum and Public Garden through its Summer Landscape Assistant program.

In between mulching and weeding, students captured their summer work and learning about campus landscapes through photographs and selfies. 

Group of students seated around table in a bright classroom.
Four smiling students in a group selfie by a tree.
Volunteer kneeling by ivy groundcover, smiling, with blue buckets and pruning shears
Student raking leaves into green wheelbarrow on a shaded oak-lined path.
Beyond a single team 

Caring for a complex campus takes teams of skilled professionals. Throughout the summer, student landscape assistants contributed to that effort while learning from the people who maintain the campus. 

Students collaborated with staff members in Grounds and Landscape Services and Building Maintenance Services, gaining insight into campus operations.

Alongside working professionals, students also learned from longtime community volunteer gardeners who shared their passion and knowledge for horticulture, sustainability and stewardship. 

Also as part of the Learning by Leading™ program, the students participated in weekly trainings tailored to bolster their leadership skills.

Student in yellow hi-vis pants pressure-washing a wooden building.
Student carrying a large dry tree branch that's nearly as big as they are.
Student kneeling outdoors holding up a clumps of weeds and looking proudly at the camera.
Student wearing a white dust mask inside tractor cab with another green tractor in the background.
Student holding up bright yellow wildflowers, sunny path and trees behind her.
Two students kneeling and pulling weeds in a sunny patch of grass.
Student in an Arboretum bucket hat posing with a shovel and giving a thumbs up in a lush green area.
Student in yellow hi-vis suit pressure washing a bench.
Group photo of 7 diverse students standing under a tree.
Four students smiling up at the camera from a waterway bank.
Beyond the mulching

From mulching campus landscapes to power washing building exteriors, students learned practical skills and discovered the behind-the-scenes effort required to maintain this campus. 

Along the way, they gained a broader view of operations and explored potential career paths. Their experience connected learning with a visible contribution: helping make UC Davis a more beautiful and welcoming place through every garden, campus building and landscape where they worked.

Student with a dust mask using a leaf blower on the front steps of Peter A Rock Hall.
Student in a neon yellow safety suit behind caution tape pressure washing the awning of Peter A Rock Hall.
Students posing in a group shot sitting on steps outside of Mrak Hall.

Thank you to the all of the UC Davis student employees in the Landscape Assistant program for sharing their work: Charity Roy, Claudia Butler-Kibbey, Daniella Nguyen, Delfin Kirsch, Dominic Lui, Hannah Wood, Jasmine Rios Santos, Koto Garcia Maquis, Leilani Velasco, Maddie Jensen, Mary-Kate O'Connor, Sean Rosenfeld and Zoey Lee. 

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