In 2019, Beth Ferguson, Associate Professor of Design, and a team of UC Davis Design and MFA students including Eldy Lázaro, Erik Contreras, and Emily Carson, applied for a TGIF grant to create a library of eco-friendly design materials to be used by UC Davis students. Using grant funding from TGIF, the group was able to create the Eco Materials Library, housed in Cruess Hall. The Eco Materials Library aims to teach design students how to create eco-materials, empowering them to reduce reliance on plastic and use sustainably made materials for a more environmentally friendly future. The library featured biomaterials made from food scraps (eggshells, banana peels, pistachio shells), agave fiber, mycelium, and more! 

The Eco Materials Library will be featured at the Pioneering Biomaterials Exhibition at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco until February 14th. The exhibition will feature eco material samples made by Assistant Professor of Design Akshita Sivakumar, graduate student Diego Martinez Fernandez del Castillo, and alumni Alejandra Ruiz.