CC Edwards Leading Young Professionals of American Mosquito Control Association
She is a UC Davis Second-Year Doctoral Student in Geoffrey Attardo Lab
Carla-Cristina “CC” Edwards, a second-year doctoral student in the lab of UC Davis medical entomologist-geneticist Geoffrey Attardo, is the newly elected chair of the Young Professionals (YPs) of the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA).
Beginning this summer, Edwards will be overseeing more than 500 young mosquito control professionals throughout the nation. She previously served a year as co-chair of YPs.
The AMCA Board of Directors created YPs in 2010 "to help advance the mosquito control industry, and to provide guidance to folks who recently graduated or are new to this niche profession,” Edwards said. “The word, young, does not refer to age, but to the number of years of work in mosquito control or mosquito research. More precisely, this group is meant for those with less than eight years in the mosquito control industry and less than five years in the AMCA. The original goal was to provide support and resources to anyone new to the mosquito industry in order to foster their career development.”
Edwards, who participated in AMCA’s recent meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said YPs provides opportunities to build relationships with fellow members and with experienced professionals through a variety of activities.
“Our organization strives to create opportunities for young professionals to learn new skills, increase their knowledge, and network with well established, experienced professionals in the field of mosquito control,” she said.
At the annual AMCA conference, YPs offers such activities as the pre-conference workshop, symposium, booth and social interactions, and dinner. The pre-conference workshop provides an opportunity for the members to learn such skills as budgeting, business etiquette, smart trap rotations, and how to publish research. The symposium features a discussion panel and career roundtables where members can network with experts and experienced professionals.
As the chair, Edwards will
- Plan agenda and run monthly YPs Committee meetings
- Lead one of the three task forces (schedule task force meetings and delegate tasks)
- Attend the business session, held during the AMCA annual members’ meeting
- Participate in virtual monthly committee meetings
- Assist in planning and executing all YPs events and activities
- Promote YPs to others within the profession
- Be responsible in the assigned task/groups throughout the year to accomplish duties
YPs publishes a semi-annual newsletter to keep its members informed about its activities and the latest mosquito research. The organization is active on Instagram @amcayoungprofessionals (instagram.com/amcayoungprofessionals) and Facebook @AMCA Young Professionals. Its email is amcayps@gmail.com.
“I would love to get more people involved and see if there are any other young professionals who would like to sign up and join our group!” Edwards said.
As a UC Davis doctoral student, she focuses her research on investigating the physiological mechanisms underlying pyrethroid resistance in Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito. She was a McNair scholar at Baylor University, where she completed her undergraduate degree in cell and molecular biology in May of 2021.
“I became interested in the mosquito field through my undergraduate research of studying the sensory and oviposition responses of Aedes aegypti in relation to the compound geosminm," she related. She went on to obtain her master's degree in 2023 at Texas Tech University, where she studied with Professor Corey Brelsfoard and investigated the effects of microplastics in relation to A. aegypti and the Asian tiger mosquito, A. albopictus.
Active in the Entomological Society of America (ESA), Edwards presented a talk on "Resisting Resistance: Identifying Biochemical Biomarkers for Pyrethroid Resistance in Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes" at the 2024 ESA conference, held last November in Phoenix.
The UC Davis doctoral student frequently engages in public outreach programs, such as the Bohart Museum of Entomology open houses, and school classroom programs. She and UC Davis doctoral candidate Mia Lippey introduced students in the Holy Rosary Catholic School, Woodland, and Winters Middle School to insect science as part of a 2023 STEM Squad project.
The students, representing fifth to eighth grades, and ranging in age from 10 to 14, learned about insect science, the importance of insect collections, and played “Bug Bingo.” (See news story)