Research
My current and past research projects. Pubmed Pub List
Culicoides sonorensis midges from colony suspended in ethanol.
Controlling C. Sonorensis Biting Midges
My Ph.D. research focused on investigating RNA interference (RNAi) as a possible insecticide option against this livestock pest. There’s so much more to share as I begin publishing these results. Stay tuned!
Outlook on RNAi control for Culicoides: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37887767/
C. sonorensis reference genes: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37794144/
Unraveling mosquito feeding behavior on human hands!
Check out this cool work describing EPG on hands!
Publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37942850/
An “arsty” black-and-white picture of two live soft-ticks after feeding on blood.
Rickettsia spp. in Multiple Tick Species in Central California
Using PCR and DNA sequencing, we were able to characterize five different Rickettsia spp. in five different tick species found in central California. These findings will hopefully inform work on pathogen surveillance and the roles of endosymbiotic bacteria that infect ticks. Much work still needs to be done to understand the roles, if any, that these bacteria play inside of ticks and related arthropods.
Publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32322900
Ornithodoros parkeri soft-tick collected from Millerton Lake, CA.
Tick-Borne Diseases in Central California
This work involved collecting and characterizing the ticks and tick-borne diseases around Fresno County. I was also curious about the prevalence of endosymbiotic bacteria of ticks. I detected tick-borne relapsing fever bacteria in soft-ticks collected from Millerton Lake in 2018 and published the results in JME.
Publication: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30517684
Blood-fed midge.
Lack of Vertical Transmission of Bluetongue Virus in Midges
Here, I worked on a project to test for possible vertical (transovarial) transmission of bluetongue virus in Culicoides sonorensis. This method used more accurate techniques like qRT-PCR to rule out transmission at every life stage of the midge. I also developed bench-top insectary techniques to rear all life stages of the midge.
Publication: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26336312
Supplemental Materials (not peer reviewed)
Hanging out with the cattle at UC Davis.
Dynamics of Bluetongue Virus and Culicoides sonorensis Abundance on California Dairy Farms
I assisted with a project to collect Culicoides sonorensis from dairy farms in Northern California. We looked at seasonal dynamics of bluetongue presence and transmission.
Publications:
Field-collected Culicoides in ethanol before sorting.
Using Digital Image Analysis to Enumerate Midges
Here, I worked on a method to image Culicoides sp. midges using digital image analysis with the open-source program ImageJ. The idea was to characterize field collections by sex and parity status in a more efficient manner than counting by hand.
Publication: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24810537