My current goals are to build my knowledge and skill in genetics and molecular biology. My interest is specifically in the genetics and molecular biology of mosquitoes and other disease vectoring insects. I began my Bachelors degree in Entomology in September of 1990, and finished it in December of 1994. I began to realize that I wanted to focus on medical entomology when I took a medical entomology course during my junior year. I found that I was very interested in the interaction among arthropod vectored human parasites, the arthropods that vector them and the biology that affects those interactions. I spoke with Dr. John Edman about working part time in his lab. I wanted to get a better idea about what vector biology research is about and was able to secure a job.

     I began working part time in Dr. Edmans lab as a lab assistant starting the summer of 1993. I started with a project which Dr. Edman and Dr. Tom Scott (at University of Maryland, now at University of California Davis) were currently working on. This project involved nutritional testing of mosquitoes which had been brought back from field sites in Thailand and Puerto Rico. I analyzed heat fixed Aedes aegypti for fructose, overall sugar, glycogen, and lipid levels to determine nutritional differences and trends between different physiological stages of the mosquitoes. These statistics were also used to determine if mosquitoes from different field sites were significantly different nutritionally. The fructose level of mosquitoes was specifically looked at to determine if the mosquitoes were using plant sugar as a nutrient or if they were primarily using blood as a nutrient source. I continued to do this work in the lab part time during the semester and full time during intersessions.

     When I graduated with my B.S. I was offered the position of head technician in the lab; which, I accepted. My responsibilities in that position included care of the multiple colonies of mosquitoes and kissing bug colonies, maintenance of the computers, maintenance of the state vehicles, ordering supplies, keeping the lab clean, assisting the graduate students, and continuation of the nutritional analysis research. During my time as technician, I have taken two trips to Florida, Puerto Rico, to do mark-recapture studies analyzing Dengue transmission patterns, determined by Aedes aegypti movement. On those trips I was also responsible for collecting cheek swabs of the population of the village and blood smears from the engorged mosquitoes to look at which individuals in the population were being fed on the most. The DNA analysis was done at University of Maryland and University of California at Davis in Tom Scott's lab.

     Most recently I have been working on other experiments. These involve looking at egg development in Aedes aegypti fed only blood or blood and sugar diets. This experiment also involves looking at egg development in the absence of an oviposition site. I have also been looking at the effects of access to water on the life span of starved mosquitoes. I recently performed an experiment for a graduate student who was out of the country. I looked at the effects of blood isoleucine levels on egg production in Aedes aegypti using mouse blood and human blood.

     During my time as an undergraduate at University of Massachusetts, I was very unfocused as to what I wanted as far as a career, and the effort I was putting towards my class work was mediocre. I do not believe that my undergraduate academic record accurately reflects my current motivation. It took me a long time to find what I was really interested in, and my performance is the result of that. In fall of 1997, I decided to go back to school full time to bolster my knowledge in genetics, biochemistry, organic chemistry, and microbiology. I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn and to prove to myself that I was ready for graduate school. So far, I have received A's in all the courses I have taken, and I believe myself ready for the rigors of a graduate program in genetics and molecular biology.

     While I find doing vector biology work on a macro level interesting, I am fascinated by the genetics and molecular biology of vector insects. I really want to understand how these insects work on a more detailed level. My long term goals are to become proficient in genetics and molecular biology, earn my Ph.D. and perform disease vector biology research which will have some impact upon human health.

     Besides biology I have other interests, skills and hobbies. I am proficient with computers in terms of both software and hardware and enjoy doing computer work in general. I also enjoy photography, biking, playing the cello and I hold an advanced certification in scuba diving.

Sincerely,