Mosquito Researchers Receive William Hazeltine Research Fellowships

Aug. 21, 2006

DAVIS--Christopher Barker and Tania Morgan, two doctoral candidates in entomology at the University of California, Davis, have won the 2006 William Hazeltine Memorial Student Research Fellowships to support their mosquito research. Each received $1000. The fellowships, memoralizing a noted California public health entomologist and longtime manager of the Butte County Mosquito Abatement District, honor “student research that is of a practical nature and is designed to help solve problems in the area of mosquito and vector control,” according to department chair Walter Leal, professor of entomology.

Barker is modeling mosquito distributions in California based on geographic factors and climate. “I am examining the effects of long-term changes in water management, agricultural practices, and land cover on mosquito abundance here,” he said. “I'm also studying the relationship between mosquito abundance and transmission of mosquito-borne viruses.”

Morgan is “identifying the chemical and physical cues that salt marsh mosquitoes use during oviposition site selection.”

“I am also working on characterizing oviposition habitats of North American Culex species,” said Morgan, who works in the UC Davis lab of entomologist and associate professor Sharon Lawler. Culex mosquitoes transmit the West Nile virus, which last year killed 19 people in California and infected more than 900 others throughout the state.

Tania Morgan

Morgan, from Sacramento, received her bachelor of science degree in entomology from UC Davis in 2004 before enrolling in the doctorate program.

Barker, a native of Abingdon, Va., earned his master of science degree in epidemiology in 2005 from UC Davis. He received a bachelor of science degree in biology in 1998 and a master’s degree in entomology in 2001, both from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.

Barker is advised by research entomologists William Reisen and Bruce Eldridge of the UC Davis Center for Vectorborne Diseases. Reisen is an adjunct professor with the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Eldridge, former director of the UC Davis Mosquito Research Program, is a retired professor of entomology at UC Davis.

Hazeltine (1926-1994) managed the Butte County Mosquito Abatement District, Oroville, from 1966 to 1992. He was an ardent supporter of the judicious use of public health pesticides to protect public health, according to Robert Washino, retired chair and professor of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.

Hazeltine challenged federal and state regulations that affected public health, Washino said.

Enrolled in the graduate program in entomology at UC Berkeley, from 1950 to 1953, he was awarded his doctorate in entomology from Purdue University in 1962. He managed the Lake County Mosquito Abatement District from 1961-64 and the Butte County Mosquito Abatement District from 1966-1992. He continued work on related projects until his death in 1994.

Medical entomologist Bruce Eldridge of UC Davis eulogized him at the 2005 American Mosquito Control Association conference. His talk was later published in the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association.

Previous recipients include:
Academic Year
2005: Nicole Mans, $1,300
2004: Sharon Minnick, $1,000
2003: Hannah Burrack, $1,000
2002: Holly Ganz and Andradi Villalobos, $500 each
2001: Laura Goddard and Linda Styer, $1,000 each

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--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894