Posts

Jamie Longo Blog 3: Suffolk County Vector Control: Nekton, Vegetation, Conclusion!

Image
  For my final blog, I will share my experiences with our nekton and vegetation sampling as well as some closing thoughts!   For both of these tasks, we returned to the same marshes we surveyed for mosquitoes since the goal is to monitor the marsh health as in-depth as possible. I was worried about getting the hang of identification but again learned pretty fast with my supervisor’s guidance. Unlike for tick sampling, the sites have designated points we revisit that are chosen based on the topography and where water features are.  For nekton sampling, it’s a 2 day process. The first day we set our traps in the flooded ditches nearest to our points, throwing them in the middle and tying them to a nearby post. Gee-style minnow traps, the ones we used, catch small fish using a dual funnel design that acts as a one way valve. The trap consists of two wire mesh baskets that clamp together, each with an inward pointing, cone shaped opening. Fish enter the wide end of the cones ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jamie Longo Blog 2 Suffolk County Vector Control: Ticks

Image
Hello again! For this blog, I will focus on the role I've played in our tick control and surveillance program and explain the different aspects of it I've learned about. At first, I was very scared of the tick work thinking they'd crawl to my blind spots and bite me all over. Thankfully, with our safety procedures and permethrin-coated PPE (personal protective equipment), any ticks that do manage to latch on die before they can even make a failed attempt to pierce the fabric. They're also funnily really slow so now I'm almost not scared at all when they're close to or touching my hands while sampling because they never manage to get close to success. I feel you actually have to be more mindful of broken glass and navigating thorny patches in the woods, but I won't look a gift horse (flat solid ground) in the mouth. As opposed to mosquito sampling, tick sampling is more of an organized team effort. We walk into the woods to the sites with corduroy flags, lint...
Post a Comment
Read more