The following is an email from Haven Kiers, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture in the Department of Human Ecology at UC Davis.
Hi,
Let me first start by saying that I hate asking for donations and I’m only doing it because this is my big opportunity to make a move and bring the sheep off campus and into the community!! That said, the reason I’m writing is because I’m in the middle of a fundraising campaign for the UC Davis Sheepmowers through UC Davis Crowdfund and I am hoping you will consider donating.
Warm weather is soon arriving, and with it, our 2024 Sheepmowers grazing season. Starting spring quarter, the sheep will be out mowing on the UCD campus every few weeks until the end of the school year. This will be our fourth grazing season, and we’re really excited for all the events we have planned (including felting with our very own Sheepmowers roving, hosting a sheep sourced poetry jam, and entering a sheep vs. robot mower competition, just to name a few).
Here is a sneak peak at our schedule:
April 3,4,5
April 24, 25, 26
May 15, 16, 17
June 5, 6, 7
Sheepmowers x Green Care Lab Collab
But here is the exciting part! My goal has always been to be able to take the Sheepmowers out into the community – to bring them to schools and elder care facilities and public events. Through a collaboration with Dr. Rebecca Calisi Rodríguez, a professor in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, and her Green Care Lab, that dream can become a reality!
“Shepherding Wellness Through Therapeutic Pastures” is a synergistic endeavor between the Sheepmowers Project and Green Care Lab to unite the scientific research behind the therapeutic calm of pastoral care with the educational, ecological, and cultural impact of sustainable grazing practices, and to do so within a publicly accessible community space. Blending sustainable environmental care with mental health research, the partnership combines eco-friendly sheep grazing with nature’s healing effects to help foster healthier landscapes and minds, pioneer research-backed nature therapy and green management strategies and set a replicable standard for communities and educational institutions worldwide. HOW COOL IS THAT?!!
Situated off-campus at Pine Trails Ranch, a 22-acre animal sanctuary in West Davis, Green Care Lab blends therapy with natural settings, acknowledging the profound link between nature and human wellness. The lab’s research spans animal behavior, stress physiology, and behavioral neuroendocrinology to understand the impact of stress and the healing potential of nature, an approach supported by scientific evidence for its effectiveness in treating various human health conditions. I’m fundraising so we can spiffy up a field at the ranch and transform it into a pastoral sheep pasture. And (this is my favorite part!), I’m hoping to purchase a livestock trailer so I can take my “roving band of therapy sheep” out on the road.
Your Support Makes a Huge Difference
The Sheepmowers Project is entirely self-funded; I use personal research money to pay the salaries of my undergraduate student shepherds/researchers and purchase all of our supplies (picnic blankets, sun umbrellas, and crafting supplies like watercolors and felting materials for visitors). Any donation you make will go directly towards the construction of the new sheep pen and the purchase of a trailer. The goal is to raise $10,000 by the end of February. There’s only a week left – please consider donating! Any amount helps.
We even created a snazzy Crowdfunding video (it’s worth watching just to see me at my chipper best!).
SHEEPMOWER X GREEN CARE LAB VIDEO
And, most importantly, here is a link to the Crowdfund Page to donate:
If you are unable to donate, please consider sharing the crowdfunding link with colleagues, friends, and family.
I truly val-ewe your support! Thank you so much!!,
Haven
