On June 8th, the project team hosted an event to gather invested Hmong community members in the Sacramento area at the UC Davis Herbarium to visit the collection of Hmong traditional plants, including those recently collected with Mao Lee. Nine attendees, joined for their collaboration and partnership, included Mao and her family and See See, an incoming student in Plant Sciences. Two undergraduate students assisted with recording the event. The gathering was also welcome to Hmong students to join. 

On May 13, we organized a gathering including Mao Lee with Hmong herb growers, supporters, researchers, and students held at Judy Tretheway's home, Confluence Gardens, in Sacramento. Participants included farmer and UC cooperative extension worker Ge Moua of Moua Farm, Julie from Hmong-owned specialty grocery store in North Sacramento, T & Y Market, Dr.

On Saturday, May 3, the team--Ga Young Chung, Will McMahan, Christy Vong--, joined by two undergraduate students in Asian American Studies classes who are also engaged in agriculture, Emily Yoshi and Nicole Domingo; along with incoming Plant Sciences undergraduate student See See Cha, visited Mao Lee and her daughter, Chee in Sacramento. It was time that plants important to Mao were flowering, which is important to make herbarium vouchers with.

Last Friday, April 25, Professor Ga Young Chung held an untitled gathering with light snacks and refreshments that brought together six students to share about any thoughts, dreams, and imaginations around Asian American studies, crops, seeds, and community with their experiences as current UC Davis undergraduate students. 

This was a space where we introduced ourselves, our backgrounds, formed connections and heard about the stories drawing each others' interests to the work of the Asian American Seed Stewards project. 

On February 24, Mao Lee made a classroom visit to share her story with Dr. Ga Young Chung’s lower division ASA 002 class, Contemporary Issues in Asian American Studies, in a large undergraduate lecture hall of 180 students.

Emma Nguyen is a third year undergraduate student majoring in Community and Regional Development and Asian American Studies with minors in Public Health and Plant Sciences. She is an intern for the Student Farm’s Fresh Focus Program as of 2024-2025, and she enjoys making pickles with some of the produce she gets from the student farm. Starting Summer 2025, she will be a Lead Student Farmer at the UC Davis Student Farm.  

This is a series to share stories of students relating to Asian American seeds and their perspectives and backgrounds. It is also to explore student interests and aspirations in pursuing work in current and changing agricultural landscapes and social and cultural environments. Emily generously shared her experiences that has shaped where she is today, and the meaning of this connective work for her, in this mix of a Q&A and feature article.

As our collaborative and community-engaged work has continued, one of our current projects is that we are collaborating with a Hmong American elder in nearby Sacramento who has been practicing sharing ethnobotanical knowledge with others and health care for her community.