8/15

 Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve shifted gears from lab work to preparing content for the Outreach Event Kit that I have been working on for the Kading Lab. I have been creating some informational content to bring to events, including brochures about West Nile Virus prevention and transmission, a mosquito species identification “cheat sheet” (inspired by Olivia and Isabelle), and a pinned mosquito collection. To shape my content to the specificity I wanted, Olivia taught me how to connect my laptop to one of our lab’s microscopes. Using the microscope software, I was able to photograph mosquito features that I wanted to include in my brochures and cheat sheet. I want to have a hands-on activity that will serve as both an engagement tool and a window for the public to see what it’s like to work in the lab. We have a traveling microscope that I plan to use it to give my audience a chance to identify mosquitoes themselves. I will set up some of my pinned mosquitoes under the microscope and, by using my cheat sheet, people will be able to identify the mosquitoes as being either Aedes aegypti, Culex tarsalis or Culex pipiens/quinquefasciatus. I also plan on bringing along a jar of mosquito larvae to help give visual insight into the mosquito life cycle (plus they’re fun to watch). In addition to using this kit at booths, I want to find opportunities to work with middle schoolers/high schoolers. I didn’t know much about research before starting at CSU, so I think it would be great to give our future generation of scientists a glimpse into our world before they come to college.