Update #2 Vermont Agency of Agriculture

 I just finished my sixth week at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture! Time has flown by, and I can't believe I only have a month left. In the past few weeks, I have been administering the Aedes Albopictus surveillance efforts through fieldwork every Tuesday and Wednesday. During my fieldwork, I am refilling and taking samples back from OVI-position and BG-GAT traps. On the other days (Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays), I am usually doing mosquito identification and organizing mosquitoes from other traps, as well as counting eggs and mosquitoes from the traps that I set up. I have also been using computer programs to track and digitize data from the Aedes Albopictus traps. In the past few weeks, mosquito numbers have definitely started to pick up, which is something we have been monitoring and is interesting to see as I compare egg and adult mosquito numbers to previous weeks and previous years. It has been such a great experience so far, and I have already learned and grown so much these past few weeks and can't wait to finish my time here in Vermont. As seen below in the picture, this is me getting my mosquito sorting during one of my first weeks, checked by one of the technicians, Pat, who has helped show me the ropes and learn about mosquito identification.


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