ECU BS Environmental Health (BSEH) and MS Environmental Health (MSEH) students and ECU faculty from the Environmental Health (EH) Program and Department of Public Health conducted another field trial last Monday night for a mosquito study. This trial was conducted in an empty field on the grounds of ECU North Recreational Facility. The ECU team collaborated with Amanda Morrison (Pitt County Vector Control Manager and ECU BSEH alum), two personnel from Valent BioSciences, and one person from Azelis Agricultural and Environmental Solutions to test the formulated product ReMoa Tri on mosquitoes from Pitt and Brunswick Counties in North Carolina (NC). These field trials are a way to verify whether or not a product will be effective at killing local mosquitoes by checking for insecticide resistance before its widespread use. This field trial is part of a larger project to compare results from field trials to results from the use of a wind tunnel in a laboratory setting, which is a more convenient method to use for several reasons (e.g., lower cost, fewer personnel, no late nights waiting for wind, no cancellations due to rain). This field trial/wind tunnel comparison work is part of two ECU students’ Honors College projects (Emma Rush [BSEH] and Paul Jones [BSPH).
The following are the participants in the field trial:
- ECU personnel: Dr. Stephanie Richards (Dept. of Health Education and Promotion [HEP], EH program faculty), Dr. Sinan Sousan (Department of Public Health faculty), Raven Slade (MSEH student), Will Murray (MSEH/MPH student), Emma Rush (BSEH student)
- Valent Biosciences personnel: Samantha Ramirez-Lachmann, James Andrews
- Azelis personnel: Daniel McCombie
- Pitt County Vector Control: Amanda Morrison
