AMCA's Mosquito Management During a Public Health Emergency Virtual Training Program

Jennifer R. Gordon, Ph. D. Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Jennifer Gordon is the Founder and Principal Entomologist at Bug Lessons Consulting. She has been active in the field of entomology for over 15 years and earned her M.S. investigating insecticide resistance in Culex quinquefasciatus and her Ph.D. investigating insecticide resistance in the bed bug, Cimex lectularius. She has worked at the corporate level supporting and developing personal and spatial mosquito repellents and consumer and professional mosquito control products and processes. Additionally, she has served as a seasonal mosquito control technician for her local mosquito control program and partnered with mosquito control programs as part of her professional responsibilities. She was a Science Policy Fellow for the Entomological Society of America and, most recently, received the Presidential Citation award from the AMCA for her work on their best practices manuals.

Dan Markowski, Ph. D. Related Seminars and Products

Technical Advisor

AMCA

Dr. Daniel Markowski has served on the front lines of the nation’s various mosquito-borne disease outbreaks from West Nile virus to Zika virus and worked with various local agencies to quell the outbreaks. He has also coordinated aerial responses to every major hurricane event in the US since 2004. In the spring of 2022, he accepted a position as the Technical Advisor for the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA). In this capacity, Markowski represents the Association’s members on all operational, technical, legislative, and regulatory matters related to the vector surveillance and control industry.

Susanne Kluh, MS Related Seminars and Products

Susanne Kluh is the General manager for the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District (GLACVCD). She has a MS in biology from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Susanne was selected to lead the agency in March of 2022. She joined the GLACVCD staff in 1999 as Assistant Vector Ecologist and was the Scientific-technical Director of the agency for 13 years before taking on the GM position. Susanne has many decades of experience, having spent her entire career in the field of mosquito and vector control, working for the German Mosquito Control Association before joining Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District.

Andrea McKinney Related Seminars and Products

Andrea McKinney is the Public Outreach and Education Specialist at the Collier Mosquito Control District, where she has been an influential contributor since 2018. With over 18 years of experience in public health, she develops and delivers engaging, standards-based educational programs for K-12 students, leads District tours, and conducts community outreach. Andrea also collaborates with community partners to advance public health initiatives. She is an active member of the Florida Mosquito Control Association, where she is an instructor at the DODD Short Courses, and the American Mosquito Control Association, where she currently serves as the Education Day Coordinator.

Madison Verhulst Related Seminars and Products

Madison Verhulst serves as the Marketing Manager for Vector Disease Control International (VDCI). Madison is responsible for overseeing VDCI’s marketing strategy, including the creation of informative emails, guides, educational webinars, and social media posts. With several years of experience, she has curated educational resources covering topics such as emergency response for natural disasters and disease outbreaks, as well as materials for Integrated Mosquito Management. Madison has also played a key role in developing blogs, webinars, and other educational resources on emergency response mosquito control, focusing on effective methods for educating and communicating with the public during an emergency.

Whitney Qualls Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Whitney Qualls obtained her B.S. in Biology from the University of the Cumberlands, Williamsburg, Kentucky, a M.S. in Medical Entomology from Auburn University, Auburn, AL, and a Ph.D in Medical Entomology from the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.  Her expertise and training are in vector ecology and behavior and applied operational vector control strategies. She has over 15 years of experience working at the local and state level in mosquito surveillance and control.  Dr. Qualls is the Assistant Director at Anastasia Mosquito Control District (AMCD), St. Johns County, Florida. She has over 80 peer-reviewed publications.

Lee Green Related Seminars and Products

Lee Green is the Senior Medical Entomologist and Director of the Entomology Lab at the Indiana Department of Health. Before taking on that role in 2021, he was a field Medical Entomologist at the Indiana Department of Health for over 15 years where he served as a vector-borne disease subject matter expert in Northern Indiana. During that time, he collected and identified over a half a million mosquitoes and thousands of ticks to study the arthropods and diseases that impact human health. 

Chris Barker, Ph. D. Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Chris Barker is a professor of epidemiology in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. He directs the Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases and VectorSurv, which is a data management platform that serves vector control and public health agencies in the U.S. His research focuses on the epidemiology of arboviruses, with particular interest in risk estimation and prediction to guide mosquito control and inform public-health policy.

Lee McPhatter, PhD Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Lee McPhatter received his PhD in Medical and Veterinary Entomology for the University of California Riverside! He served as a Medical Entomologist for the US Army (2007-2023). His key assignments included the following: Chief of Entomology (Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Tx), Associate Director of the Entomology Research Division (Walter Reed Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD), Chief of Preventive Medicine (18th Medical Command, Honolulu HI) and Director of Preventive Medicine ( 32nd Field Hospital, Fort Johnson, LA). He is currently a professor at Liberty University School of Health Sciences and Science teacher at Saint John’s Classical Academy, Fleming Island, FL.

Michelle Selander, MPH Related Seminars and Products

Michelle Selander brings over 25 years of experience overseeing and managing ground, aerial, and emergency operations for public health mosquito programs across the United States. She leads a dedicated team of over 35 full-time staff and 200 seasonal employees, with offices spanning Idaho to Florida. Throughout her career, Michelle has been instrumental in driving numerous improvements in operational efficiencies. Her initiatives include advancements in mobile data collection and mapping, fleet and equipment management, and the integration of sustainable application methods within the Division. Michelle has also played a pivotal role in several vector-related emergency responses, managing programs in New York, Florida, Chicago, Arizona, Miami-Dade County, FL, Brownsville, TX, and during significant events such as Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Florence, and Michael. She holds a B.S. in Geography from Northern Illinois University, with an emphasis on Natural Environmental Systems, and a Master’s degree in Public Health from Benedictine University.

Mustapha Debboun, PhD Related Seminars and Products

Colonel (Ret) Dr. Mustapha Debboun is a distinguished member of the US Army Medical Department, an Entomological Society of America Board Certified Medical & Veterinary Entomologist, educator, and researcher in arthropod repellents. He received his BA in Biology from Skidmore College, MS in Entomology from University of New Hampshire, and a PhD. in Medical & Veterinary Entomology from University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Debboun is currently an Adjunct Professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.  His global military and civilian entomological work have taken him to over 35 different countries with a goal to provide efficient and sustainable management of disease vectors and human protection from mosquito and vector-borne diseases. He has published over 135 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 24 book chapters, and 5 co-edited books on insect repellents and public health entomology.

Alden Estep, Ph. D. Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Alden Estep is a Research Entomologist in the Mosquito & Fly Research Unit of the Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology. His laboratory studies the mechanisms underlying insecticide resistance in mosquitoes and flies, develops new methods to rapidly assess resistance and pathogens in field populations, and develops effective mitigation strategies for the control of resistant arthropods. He has published more than 60 articles related to insect toxicology, genomics, and insecticide resistance and served on graduate committees through an adjunct appointment. He has also given numerous presentations, lectures, and webinars on insecticide resistance and RNA interference.

Lindsay Baxter, M.S. Related Seminars and Products

Lindsay Baxter manages the pesticide resistance monitoring program within the Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-borne Diseases (NEVBD). She received her M.S. in Entomology with a concentration in medical entomology and public health from Cornell University in May of 2021. Her thesis explored the environmental associations of Powassan virus and Ixodes scapularis ticks in a hotspot in Southern Maine. Baxter is one of nine students to complete a M.S. through the NEVBD. In her current role, she works with mosquito control and public health professionals throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions to identify and further investigate pesticide resistance in medically important ticks and mosquitoes.

Marah Clark Related Seminars and Products

Marah Clark is an Environmental Administrator in the Bureau of Scientific Evaluation and Technical Assistance within the Agricultural Environmental Services Division of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of North Florida and has spent 19 years leading the mosquito-borne disease surveillance programs in Jacksonville. Marah leads a team that provides support, outreach, and education to Florida’s mosquito control, pest control, and public. She’s the division vector entomologist for the FDACS Mosquito Control Incident Response Team and subject matter expert for the Florida Coordinating Council on Mosquito Control.

Stephanie Madson, PhD Related Seminars and Products

Stephanie Madson is a former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employee with over a dozen years of experience in the field of emergency management and served as a liaison for vector control activities between communities, FEMA and the CDC. She holds a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Georgia and a M.S. in entomology from Oregon State University. Stephanie is currently a Regional Planning Director with the U.S. Forest Service.

Kari Elkins Related Seminars and Products

Kari Elkins serves as the current Unified Federal Review Coordinator for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region IV, located in the Southeast.

Nina Dacko, M.S. Related Seminars and Products

Nina Dacko has had a passion of working with insects ever since she was very young. She obtained her B.S. in entomology from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 2006 and a M.S. in environmental toxicology from Texas Tech University in 2011. She has been involved in mosquito surveillance and control activities in Illinois, California, and Texas since 2006. She led and developed the mosquito control program at Tarrant County Public Health in Fort Worth from 2013- 2022 and most recently served as the Associate Director of the Mosquito Vector Control Division at Harris County Public Health Department. Dacko is also the chair of the Control Strategies Subcommittee for the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA), served as a past president of the Texas Mosquito Control Association (TMCA), and serves on other various vector control committees for the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) and the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA).

Angela Beehler Related Seminars and Products

Angela Beehler is the district manager for the Benton County Mosquito Control District in Washington state and served as the Legislative and Regulatory Committee Chairman for the American Mosquito Control Association from 2013-2023. Beehler attended North Dakota State University, where she graduated with a B.S. in Biological Sciences. Prior to her role with the Benton County Mosquito Control District, Beehler was a field inspector for the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District in Minnesota and the Director for Cass County Vector Control in North Dakota.

Leigh-Anne Lawton Related Seminars and Products

Texas Department of State Health Services

An experienced leader in entomology, Leigh-Anne Lawton specializes in vector surveillance and control programs in regions affected by arthropod-borne diseases. Her background includes managing diverse teams in remote locations and collaborating with clients on impactful reports and recommendations. Leigh-Anne served on a technical committee for malaria and dengue initiatives in Papua New Guinea. Her current role as the State Entomologist with the Texas Department of State Health Services involves educational outreach and mosquito surveillance. In this role, Leigh-Anne has responded to both natural disaster and disease related mosquito emergencies. With a M.S. focused on medical entomology and extensive field experience, Leigh-Anne is dedicated to advancing public health through effective entomological practices and community education.

Chelsea Gridley-Smith, PhD Related Seminars and Products

NACCHO

Dr. Chelsea Gridley-Smith is the Director of Environmental Health at NACCHO, providing management and leadership over Vector Control, Climate Change, Food Safety, Environmental Health Practice, and Water Preparedness. At NACCHO, she has represented the organization on the Environmental Health and Equity Coalition, the Retail Food Safety Regulatory Association Collaborative, and the National Vector Borne Disease Network. Dr. Gridley-Smith began her career in biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health and led NACCHO’s vector control and climate change programs for three years before assuming the Director role. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Albany, State University of New York, School of Public Health. She also holds a Bachelor of Science from D'Youville College in Buffalo, NY with a minor in Chemistry.