Rockies and High Plains Vector-borne Diseases Center Summer Internship

  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 micr...

  This week was exciting, with a combination of both some old and new work. Again this week, I worked with Olivia on sorting mosquitoes and conducting bottle bioassays with Etofenprox. Fun fact: While sorting mosquitoes, I listened to one song 22 times. Our traps this week caught a high yield of Culex tarsalis , which is what we wanted. After getting a majority of Aedes vexans from Dixon Reservoir, we hoped the following trapping sites would yield more Culex tarsalis to test. Outside of the lab, Grace invited me to travel to Nunn, Colorado, for an outreach event. There, we talked to a group of senior citizens about West Nile Virus and tick prevention, then gave them informational flyers and bug wipes. I really enjoyed talking to all of the attendees in a smaller, more intimate environment. I have also been working on some items to construct a “Grab n’ Go” outreach event kit. As I am doing work on the kit, it has also been helpful to attend outreach events to see what really enga...

  Happy Monday!  My work last week was typical of what I have been doing over the past few weeks, in addition to some new things I learned. We finished trapping and testing mosquitoes for insecticide resistance at our second site, so this week we will start trapping in a new area. At our previous trapping site, we had a huge yield of Aedes vexans , so it will be interesting to see if we can find a place with more Culex tarsalis this time around. I also worked with other RaHP VEC interns and Tim to learn how to upload data onto VectorSurv. VectorSurv is a site that utilizes maps to display where mosquitoes have been tested for insecticide resistance and their resistance statuses. Additionally, it can be used to show arbovirus detection by the year various viruses have been logged, including West Nile Virus. It’s fun to be able to get a visualization of the data we’re working on. Once again, I find our data to be so exciting due to the direct impact that it has on our commu...

  Hello, all! Last week was super crazy, but very eventful. We spent the week trapping in a new area that I really enjoy. I have found that field work is one of my favorite parts of the job, as it is a nice break up between lab and computer work. It often is like going on a little hike, and the weather in Fort Collins has been so nice recently (if not a bit too warm). Along with mosquitoes, it’s fun to observe the other insects and birds inhabiting the areas we visit. After we collect our yield, we start sorting the mosquitoes. The process of sorting is a bit tedious, but it is now getting easier every time that I do it. It involves using an aspirator to suck the mosquitoes out of the traps, then we put them into plastic bags that we stick under the microscope in order to identify. After we ID each one, we separate them based on species to be used in the bottle assays. IDing is also starting to move faster now that I have become more familiar with the defining characteristics u...

     Within the first couple weeks of starting RaHP VEC, I have begun learning about mosquitoes and all that is involved when working with them. Since this summer is my first experience with mosquito work, I spent my first week learning about mosquito care with the lab-kept Culex tarsalis colony. While working with the colony, I learned more about the mosquito life cycle. Additionally, I had the opportunity to practice a dissection to help me learn more about mosquito anatomy.       In addition to normal mosquito care tasks, I also worked with fellow RaHP VEC interns, Olivia, Isabelle and Grace. Early in the week, I set mosquito traps with Olivia and Isabelle at the Environmental Learning Center. I did not previously know how the process of trapping mosquitoes worked, and I ended up being fascinated by the entire contraption. The four of us also attended an outreach event at CSU’s main campus to help teach high schoolers more about mosquitoes and m...

 Hello, everyone!         My name is Emerald Cordova, and I am a RaHP VEC intern at Colorado State University. I am an upcoming third-year undergraduate student majoring in Biomedical Sciences with a concentration in Microbiology and Infectious Disease. I am still relatively new to the research world, but I love everything that I have done and learned so far. There are many future career options that I am still considering after graduation, but I'm most interested in pursuing a PhD in microbiology or molecular biology. I work in Dr. Rebekah Kading’s lab and plan to focus my RaHP VEC project around public outreach to inform others about mosquito-borne illnesses, such as West Nile Virus.  In my free time, I love being out in nature, writing or reading, and spending time with my family. I am from Colorado Springs, so I am fortunate to be able to visit home often. However, I also enjoy living in Fort Collins. When given the opportunity, I will take part ...