Wrapping up: Weeks 8-10

 As my internship with Suffolk County Vector Control comes to an end, I have had the chance to look back at how much I have learned throughout the summer. Over the past several weeks, I have participated in mosquito and tick surveillance, nekton trapping, vegetation sampling, and other fieldwork that has given me a much better understanding of both vector control and environmental science.

During the final part of the internship, we continued working with many of the sampling methods we had learned earlier in the summer. By this point, activities like mosquito and tick sampling had become much more familiar. Instead of focusing only on learning how to perform each procedure, I was able to pay more attention to the environmental conditions around us and understand why we were collecting the information in the first place.

One of the biggest things I learned this summer was how unpredictable fieldwork can be. Weather constantly affected our schedule, and conditions could look completely different from what we expected based on previous weeks or reports. Seeing this firsthand showed me why surveillance needs to be performed consistently throughout an entire season. A single day of sampling does not necessarily tell the whole story.

I also really enjoyed how much of the internship involved being outdoors and seeing different ecosystems throughout Suffolk County. Whether we were working around marshes, wooded areas, or aquatic environments, I became more aware of how interconnected these habitats are. Learning about the history of Suffolk County's marshes and local fish populations earlier in the internship especially stuck with me because of my interest in fishing and conservation.

Another important part of the experience was getting to work alongside people who have spent years in vector control. Being able to ask questions in the field and hear how their experiences compared with what we were seeing helped put our work into perspective.

Overall, this internship gave me much more than experience collecting mosquitoes or ticks. It taught me about public health, environmental monitoring, teamwork, and the importance of collecting reliable information over time. I am grateful for everything I was able to experience this summer and for the people who took the time to teach us along the way.

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