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Information listed on this page may or may not be current at the time of reference. Please check back often for any updates from the lab
2025
June - August
Some of mine and James Sun's (TTU Clark Scholar 2024) research (in collaboration with Luis Chaves and Phil Armstrong) was just published in PNAS Nexus! We used CAES' WNV surveillance data to train an machine learning model to predict risk of WNV throughout the US - and good news, high risk sites for WNV in mosquitoes also tend to occur in areas with reported human infections! The work is open access, so give it a read!
Research from former research technician Hunter Covey's MS thesis was also published earlier this summer! The work explored how variability between larval and adult thermal environments induced stress responses in Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus! Congrats Hunter (and also congrats to Dr. Corey Brelsfoard who was the senior author of this work).
Another successful summer for TTU Clark Scholars
Another successful summer for TTU Clark Scholars
We had the immense pleasure of hosting our second TTU Clark Scholar this summer - Angelina Sun! Angelina pursued independent research investigating the effects of larval predation on eDNA detection for Aedes aegypti. It was a pretty fun project - the lab worked together to rear Triops longicaudatus - or "tadpole shrimp" - which are native to West Texas and are known to eat mosquito larvae; we then fed the triops Ae. aegypti larvae, moved them to sterile containers, and then tested the water for mosquito eDNA (e.g., triop poop...!). Triops are a pain to rear - but overall, we had promising results that predators transfer prey DNA to new environments. I'm hopeful we can repeat some of these experiences (looking at you new TTU undergrads!).
May
Congratulations to both Stephen and Esinam, who each won research awards at TTU at the end of the Spring semester!! Stephen was awarded the Graduate Student Research Support Award for his proposal on evaluating eDNA tools for Ae. aegypti surveillance in West Texas. Esinam was awarded TTU ASM's Grant-in-Aid award for her proposal on using the Ae. aegypti axenic model system to study the functional roles of gut microbiota, S. marcescens and its chitinases in mosquito midguts.
February/March/April
CONGRATULATIONS to lab alum Nathanial O'Dell, whose paper on Aedes aegypti and Aedes albpictus niche modeling in Dallas and Tarrant Counties, TX was published April 10th in the Journal of Medical Entomology.
Its been a busy Spring semester so far (!) with people traveling all over campus and the US - Melissa traveled to Jackson, Wyoming to participate in the West-Central Mosquito and Vector Control Association's Annual meeting; Sierra traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico to present at the American Mosquito Control Association's annual meeting; Stephen/Esinam presenting their research at the Texas Tech Annual Biological Sciences Symposium; Melissa/Sierra/Stephen/Nathanial (lab alum!) all traveling to Austin, TX to participate in the Entomological Society of America's Southwestern Branch meeting; and even I traveled to San Antonio, TX to present at the Texas Mosquito Control Association's Spring workshop.
Nathanial presenting his research on aegypti niche modeling
Sierra presenting her work on WNV/SLEV transmission
Stephen presenting his work on eDNA methods for mixed species communities
Melissa presenting her information on mosquito community composition
Talking power analyses at TMCA
Talking power analyses at TMCA
Melissa winning the "micro" category at ESA SW's photo competition!
Melissa winning the "micro" category at ESA SW's photo competition!
Stephen presenting his eDNA research at TTABS 2025 (Lubbock, TX)
Melissa presenting her research on WNV/SLEV/Culex spp. dynamics at WCMVCA 2025 (Jackson, WY)
Esinam presenting her proposed dissertation experiments at TTABS 2025 (Lubbock, TX)
Sierra presenting some of her research on WNV/SLEV dynamics at AMCA 2025 (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
January
CONGRATULATIONS to lab collaborator Andrea Gloria Soria, whose paper on dirofilarial infections in mosquitoes was published in the Journal of Medical Entomology. Some of McMillan's postdoc collections were utilized in the analyses.
2024
November
JR, Stephen, and Esinam attended the annual meeting of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in New Orleans, LA to present some of our current (and previous) research. Shout out to Stephen for receiving the American Committee of Medical Entomology's Young Investigator (Graduate level) Travel award which covered some of his expenses so that he could present his research on eDNA methodologies for Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus in co-occupied containers.
Stephen's poster on eDNA for detecting Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus in co-occupied containers
Stephen (second from right) with other travel award winners from ASTMH's ACME committee
Esinam presenting some of her research she performed while at Naguchi University in Ghana
JR presenting an update on some of the RaHP VEC's educational objectives
October
Melissa and Sierra win awards at TMCA
Melissa and Sierra win awards at TMCA
Melissa and Sierra each attending the annual Texas Mosquito Control Associations meeting in Fredericksburg, TX. Melissa won the Jimmy K. Olson Scholarship for her proposal on Aedes aegypti blood feeding patterns in Lubbock, and Sierra won the James "Gus" Foyle Scholarship for her proposal on patterns of insecticide resistance in Ae. aegypti from Lubbock! Melissa was also awarded an award for Best Student Presentation, so she will be returning to TMCA in 2025 to present her research! Congrats to you both.
Lab alum, Nathanial O'Dell, submitted his very first paper for publication consideration. The manuscript presents the culmination of his undergraduate project using random forest models to analyze the spatiotemporal abundance of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus in the DFW metroplex. Fingers cross for a swift and favorable review!
September
Sierra (top) and Melissa (bottom) present some of their MS thesis work at the Society for Vector Ecology's Annual Meeting in Fort Collins, CO!
August
The lab welcomes new members Esinam Abla Akorli (PhD student), Mark Lavin (research as credit student and lab vounteer since January 2024 actually), and Hunter Covey, MS (research aide/manager)!
July
TTU Clark Scholars Program participation
TTU Clark Scholars Program participation
The lab had the pleasure of hosting James Sun, a TTU Clark Scholar, this summer! James joined our lab for 8 weeks, and in that time taught himself coding in R AND analyzed some of the data from Connecticut to build predictive models and maps of eastern equine encephalitis virus. Though he had to return back home to California and will be finishing up his senior year of high school, we'll continue to work together to publish his work and present some of his results at the upcoming ASTMH meeting in November of this year. Great job James!
June
CONGRATULATIONS to Dr. Corey Brelsfoard's lab (TTU) which was just awarded a joint USDA ARS-TTU seed grant to pursue research into the spatial deposition of pyriproxyfen in cultivated environments under different autodissemination strategies! This work will address important gaps regarding the potential non-target impacts of this novel yet important mosquito control strategy! The lab looks forward to working further with the Brelsfoard lab on this project! And check the opportunities page - this work funds an MS level student on a 7.5 month RA for two years!
May
First lab alumni!
First lab alumni!
We said goodbye to three amazing lab members this month!
Alexa Chavez, our research technician, will begin a masters program at Texas A&M
Jerry Champion was selected as a Public Health Entomology For All fellow (a joint fellowship between the Entomological Society of American and the Center's for Disease Control) and will join the CDC's Dengue branch as a technician in San Juan, PR for a whole year
Nathanial O'Dell, though spending the summer working on his Aedes aegypti modeling, will join The University of Washington (Seattle) MPH program in the fall
CONGRATULATIONS to all of you! We know you will succeed in everything you do!
April
CONGRATULATIONS to Stephen Opoku Afriyie for being awarded the Department of Biological Science's Horn Doctoral Research Award! This money will go towards Stephen's research into novel technologies for the surveillance of Aedes aegypti!
We hosted a symposium on Aedes aegypti at the Entomological Society of America's Southwestern Branch meeting in Albuquerque, NM. It was a great 1/2 day event which featured speakers from New Mexico State University, Texas A&M University, University of Texas Medical Branch, University of Arizona, Texas Tech, Arizona State University, and Los Alamos National Laboratory!
TTU's Undergraduate Research Conference
Shown: Lab members Nathanial O'Dell (top left) and Samuel Bennett (bottom left) presented their research on Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus at TTU's Undergraduate Research Conference. Lab members Stephen Opoku Afriyie, Sierra Lewis, and Alexa Chavez (main photo) also contributed to the event by being judges. Great work everyone!
March
Math collaborators present work on modeling aegypti and albopictus larval competition!
Math collaborators present work on modeling aegypti and albopictus larval competition!
shown: Dr. Amanda Laubmeier and (now PhD) Nusrat Tabassum pose with a slide of Nusrat's work estimating competition coefficients from our larval competition work Summer - Fall 2023! Congrats Nusrat and best of luck on your postdoc with Clemson University!
JR, lab members (Melissa Clawson and Sierra Lewis) and TTU collaborators (Dr. Corey Brelsfoard)
attend AMCA in Dallas, TX!
Mosquito Lightening Round Presenters, AMCA 2024
Mosquito Lightening Round Presenters, AMCA 2024
Didn't think to get a shot of the lab!!! Alas, next time!
February
RaHP VEC members at the WCMVCA annual meeting in Colorado Springs, CO
(Some) RaHP VEC members and friends at Garden of the Gods
(Some) RaHP VEC members and friends at Garden of the Gods
Bottom, left to right: Ary Faraji (SLCMAD), JR McMillan, Rebekah Kading (CSU), Sehlby Cagle (CSU), Chris Roundy (CDPHE)
Top, left to right: Chris Bibbs (SLCMAD), Mackenna Smith (Teton Weed and Pest), Michele Rehbein (SLCMAD), Greg White (SLCMAD), Tim Burton (CSU), Nate Byers (SLCMAD), Saul Lozano (CDC), Karla Saavedra Rodriguez (CSU)
Yes, even PIs get poster presentations....
Yes, even PIs get poster presentations....
Presenting some of the RaHP VEC's work on building academic training capacity in all things vector-borne diseases at the WCMVCA's annual meeting
TTU students presenting their work
Nathanial Odell, TTABS poster
Nathanial Odell, TTABS poster
Jerry Champion, TTABS presentation
Jerry Champion, TTABS presentation
Sam Bennett, TTABS poster
Sam Bennett, TTABS poster
January
Multiple lab members have been selected to present their research at the Texas Tech Annual Biological Sciences Symposium, February 9th and 10th! Best of luck to Sam, Nathan, and Jerry on their presentations!
The lab welcomes two new MS thesis students - Melissa Clawson and Sierra Lewis! Each will contribute to evaluation projects as part of the RaHP VEC.
2023
August
The lab welcomes new members Stephen Opoku Afriyie (PhD student) and Sabrina Lundegreen (research as credit student)!
Preprint of AMCA-funded West Nile virus risk mapping posted to Research Square (and under review!). Fingers crossed!
McMillan and Brelsfoard labs are member institutions of the Rockies and High Plain's Vector-borne Disease Center for Training and Evaluation!
June
Lab welcomes Alexa Chavez (B.S., Texas Tech University 2023) as a full time research assistant!
Alexa joined the lab as an undergraduate student assistant in Summer 2022. She is in charge of all day-to-day operations of the lab
May
Synchrony analyses of mosquito surveillance data highlighted by Entomology Today
About the cover photo: Female Anopheles spp. with some sort of mite species on the abdomen - individual from Lubbock, TX August 2023. Image captured by Alexa Chavez using lab's Leica stereoscope with a Leica K3 camera.
February/March
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