Skip to main content

Week 5

 Meeting NEVBD Interns!

Friday I met many of the other NEVBD interns over zoom. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and hearing about their projects. It was interesting to hear about what the other interns are doing on a day-to-day basis, and I found that many of us do similar things like mosquito trapping and ID. I found it very helpful to hear the tricks they learned that helped them have an easier time IDing mosquitoes and I found myself using a lot of the techniques they mentioned these past two weeks as I worked in the lab. It's great to be able to connect and learn from each other.

Mosquito Trapping 

We changed our trapping schedule this week to make sure that we hit every town with four-day work week. I set up eight traps on Monday, collected them Tuesday, then set up eight on Thursday and collected them Friday. We have been collecting a lot more mosquitoes than last year (in the couple of weeks we've been trapping, we've already surpassed the total number of mosquitoes we caught last year). 

My CDC traps are often packed with mosquitoes. This is likely because of the rainy and relatively warm winter we had this year. I am connecting the weather pattern changes that I learned about in my classes to the changes in the mosquito populations. Seeing the effects of climate change on the mosquito populations firsthand has made the issue of climate change more real to me. I'm also realizing how easy it can be in an area like Central Massachusetts to easily ignore the effects of climate change and become detached from the issue. It's important that we are reminded that climate change is affecting all of us, but some are affected more than others. If we are feeling the effects in Central Massachusetts, then others are feeling it worse in higher risk areas. In the context of mosquito control, increasing patrol measures and management is very helpful in mitigating the effects of climate change, but it is not solving it.  We must continue to push for changes that reduce GHG emissions so that we do not surpass critical thresholds. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Weeks 1 and 2

 My day to save for the summer: CDC Traps For the past two weeks, my main job has been setting up and taking down CDC traps. These traps look a little bit like miniature flying saucers, but instead of aliens coming down from them, mosquitoes are going into  them! CMMCP mainly uses CO2 CDC traps, which release carbon dioxide from a tank we connect to the top of the trap. Mosquito antennae detect carbon dioxide, and this ability is used by the mosquitos to find sources of blood, so they are attracted to the CO2 emitted by our traps. Some CDC traps use light to attract the mosquitos, but we use the CO2 traps to reduce the number of junk bugs (the bugs that get caught in the trap that aren't mosquitos). Once a mosquito flies close to the trap, a fan pushes them down into a collection cup where they cannot escape. The next day, I return to the trap to collect the sample and disassemble the trap.  My truck, packed and ready to set up CDC CO2 traps.   CDC CO2 trap Once I get back to the l
Post a Comment
Read more

Weeks 7 and 8

Continuing to Trap and ID Over the past two weeks, I've continued to go out in the field and collect mosquitoes using CDC CO2 traps and gravid traps. No mosquitoes in our towns have tested positive for any diseases yet, which is good! But, Norfolk County had its first case of West Nile and Plymouth County had its first case of EEE last week, so we expect a positive soon. The number of perturbans  we caught has decreased dramatically compared to the last couple weeks. As the CDC traps become less full, the gravid traps are getting fuller. I'm getting more familiar with distinguishing Culex mosquitoes and will continue to practice this over the rest of the internship. First of the Trainee Summer Seminar Series! Dr. Beard: Future Vector-Borne Disease Workforce  On Friday, I attended Dr. Ben Beard's insightful presentation on the future trajectory of vector-borne diseases (VBDs). Dr. Beard emphasized the profound impact of climate change on VBDs, highlighting how shifts in clim
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 4

 Mosquito ID This week, I learned how to ID mosquitoes. I looked at mosquitoes in a microscope and followed an ID guide to categorize them. We count the number of the specific types of mosquitoes we caught at each different trap site and then send the species that are capable of transmitting specific diseases to the lab for testing. Mosquito ID is very tedious, but I like to learn about the sample that I caught.  I am continuing to set up CDC and gravid traps every day. Each morning, I pack up my truck with everything I need to set up traps and collect the samples. I return to the office after I set up and pick up the traps and process my mosquitoes. Now, I am working on learning how to ID the mosquitoes. Right now, I'm very slow and need someone to double check most of my IDs, but I hope I will get better with more practice.  
Post a Comment
Read more