The Invasive Mosquito Project: A Public Education Tool

This classroom project helps high school teachers meet national education requirements and students learn about mosquitoes, public health, and safety. One of the main goals of the project is to transform teachers and students into citizen scientists. The Invasive Mosquito Project provides educational materials for teachers and students. As part of data gathering, students collect mosquito eggs around their houses. After a week, upon the presence of eggs, students bring the mosquito eggs to class and choose to raise ¼ of the eggs to adults following the protocol and safety measures provided in the lesson plan. The remaining eggs are sent to USDA. Classes have the opportunity to assess local, regional and national mosquito distribution data and to determine if there is an increased risk of particular pathogens in their community based on the presence of certain mosquito vector species. In addition to the public education component, another goal of the IMP project is to monitor invasive mosquito species in the United States. The project uses a new partnered approach to citizen science given each classroom is paired with mosquito and public health professionals that support the lesson plans and data gathering by, for instance, confirming the students’ mosquito identifications.