The Miami-Dade Mosquito Control Division Visits the Department of Public Health Sciences

The Miami-Dade Mosquito Control Division gave a lecture at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health Sciences, where graduate students also had the opportunity to interact with professionals and learn from their real-world experiences, as well learn more about the challenges to control vector mosquitoes in Miami. Since 2019, the Miami-Dade Mosquito Control Division has had a partnership with the University of Miami.

“The opportunity for our students to learn from top mosquito control experts here in Miami-Dade County was the highlight of our course,” said John Beier, Sc.D., an internationally renowned entomologist and professor at the Miller School of Medicine Department of Public Health Sciences. “We appreciate how our partnership with Miami-Dade Mosquito Control opens up such tremendous learning opportunities for our University of Miami students.”

Dr. Beier, who is also director of the Division of Environment and Public Health, teaches the course – Ecology and Control of Vector-Borne Diseases – alongside Andre Wilke, a post-doctoral associate at the Department of Public Health Sciences.

William Petrie, Ph.D., the director of the Miami-Dade Mosquito Control Division, Chalmers Vasquez, the mosquito control research manager, Isik Unlu, Ph.D., the mosquito control operations manager, and Johana Medina, senior biologist, were among those who visited from the Miami-Dade Mosquito Control Division.

Dr. Petrie and Dr. Unlu gave a lecture on Integrated Vector Management and the importance of environmental management to control vector mosquitoes. Mr. Vasquez and Ms. Medina held a discussion with the students about the mosquito control efforts during the Zika virus outbreak in Miami in 2016.

“Students had the opportunity to interact with top mosquito control professionals, which allowed for a unique perspective on the challenges of controlling of vector mosquitoes and preventing the transmission of arbovirus in urban environments,” said Dr. Wilke.

Written by Dr. Andre Wilke in collaboration with Amanda Torres 

Published on March 13, 2020