Isik Unlu, Ph. D.

Born, raised, and educated in Ankara, Turkey, Dr. Isik Unlu received her B.S. in biology and M.S. in ecology from Hacettepe University. She conducted research and spent time as an educator in Turkey, Israel, and Germany before coming to the U.S. in 2003. Unlu obtained a PhD degree in medical entomology from Louisiana State University (LSU) in 2007. After graduating from LSU, she joined Rutgers University as an adjunct professor and post doc and Mercer County Mosquito Control first as an entomologist, then as a superintendent. She has more than 20 years’ experience, published in nearly 60 outlets, and presented at or contributed to more than 90 conferences on the topics of vector biology, ecology, surveillance, management and control, disease surveillance, blood meal analysis, and epidemiology of vector-borne diseases. Unlu is currently the Acting Division Director and Operations Manager for Miami-Dade County Mosquito Control where she oversees a team of more than 50 staffers.