Grace Reibel - VDH Weeks 1-3

For the past three weeks, I have been working at the Virginia Department of Health under the supervision of the Epidemiology team. It has been an incredible learning experience so far!

Week 1: I completed initial training modules and attended state epidemiology calls and joint meetings with the Department of Forestry on invasive species. To support our upcoming field work, we learned about Wavyleaf grass and Beech Leaf Disease so that if encountered we know what it is and to report it! This week we have also gotten into tick basics and practicing microscope identification. This was hard for me since I don't have a lot of practice in insect identification but the keys and trainings have been incredibly helpful for me!

Week 2: This week we transitioned into the field to conduct our first tick drags! After a group training session to learn the technique, we did a second drag at a location I selected. I have been assigned the task of finding a site in which I can conduct routine drags so that way I can analyze and build visualizations based off of the data I find in R Studio. But, while our first drag was successful with lots of Lone Star ticks being found, my location was not as successful, only finding a few American Dog ticks. So, I am back to looking and checking out more sites! 

Week 3: This week we have done more field sampling work, and I successfully identified a site with both Lone Star and Ixodes ticks present to serve as my fixed monitoring location! We have also been processing passive surveillance submissions mailed from across Virginia, alongside veterinary samples this week. These specimens are uniquely challenging to identify because they are often damaged and lacking some of the key identifiable features but this hands-on practice has significantly helped to improve my identification skills!

Photo from one of our drag locations



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