Internship Week 1: Vector Control technician 6/17/2016

It is hard to believe I have been at my internship for a week now.  I found out about this opportunity from another source back in late April and I am glad that I took advantage of it.

The ironic thing is that I am planning on working with my professor/mentor this coming school year on her mosquito research. I had shadowed and been a part of her research in the past, but I took a break from it for about a year.  Partly because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and was a bit apprehensive of the people doing the research. BUT… I had the experience, interest, and knowledge that helped my application stand out.

This internship is a grant based one due to the Zika virus concern and its connection to cases of microcephaly.  We are doing mosquito collection and ID’ing. Essentially, we are looking for Aedes Aeygti - which is the species responsible for causing Zika virus, along with other mosquito-borne diseases. (Other species cause disease as well)

The place I work at is very interesting.  Interning here will give me a feel for public health and if I want to pursue that avenue after graduation. They have a medical and dental clinic (to help those who can’t otherwise afford medical care), WIC, international travel health, environmental health, and wellness programs – including exercise, cooking, and others.  So far, the environmental health seems very interesting to me.

The department I work for is very nice – the head of the department is laid back and very understanding,  The person I work under reminds me a lot of my entomology professor (who I had for my environmental science courses) and of course, my mentor.  She can identify mosquito species really fast!!! I work with two other guys – who are very nice – and will be doing mainly collections and ID’ing.

So far, I tried ID’ing while waiting the other day and have shadowed and helped with collection – setting out traps and retrieving them, I hope to become decent at ID’ing and bring some of what I learn this summer to my Independent Research this coming school year.