Research

Mosquito Ecology

Aquatic insects are often used as indicators of landscape level human impacts, as demonstrated by my previous studies in urban and agricultural watersheds.  This notion was my entry point to the study of mosquitos, the deadliest of all animals. Mosquitos have an aquatic larval stage which also responds predictably to changes in environmental conditions. My studies link urban landscapes to mosquito habitat quality and availability, and assess implications for mosquito borne disease risk. We have shown associations between urban heat gradients, mosquito vector distribution and dengue prevalence,  and explored additional drivers, including habitat availability due to urban blight, and changes in food quality for mosquito larvae. I am interested in the practical application of these findings for vector control, especially under warming conditions and in the aftermath of hazard events. 

Watershed Management

Watersheds represent nature's true boundaries, connecting human communities through their surrounding landscapes.  Decisions to transform land locally have important and often devastating consequences downstream. Despite this crucial connectivity, watershed scale management is rarely the norm, as it requires coordination across stakeholders with often competing interests. We apply the concept of ecosystem services to demonstrate watershed management links to economically important benefits such as reservoir conservation, coastal tourism, and flood resilience. We highlight how the lack of watershed management has catastrophic implications for flood exposure, and it's associated health impacts. Our work aims to identify management priorities that maximize benefits to humans, and to highlight the points of connection that may harness broader support for coordinated landscape planning.