Cooperative Extension Medical Acarology/Entomology Specialist
UC Berkeley Campus – College of Natural Resources
Position Title: Cooperative Extension Medical Acarology/EntomologySpecialist. This position will focus on the integrated management of ticks, mites, and other ectoparasites of significance to human health.
Position Description: (1) general disciplinary focus: medical acarology and entomology, including integrated management of ticks, mites, and other ectoparasites of significance to human health; (2) educational and professional background requirements:Ph.D. in entomology, parasitology or related field is required, with an emphasis on the biology, ecology, and management of ticks, mites, or other ectoparasites of public health importance. Ideal candidates should have experience developing and leading applied research programs, extending information to various stakeholders, and producing both research and extension publications; (3) interactions with supporting units:this UCCE Specialist will work with an existing UC network; including UC AES faculty, UCCE Specialists and Advisors, UCANR statewide programs (especially UC IPM), UC ANR Program Teams and Work Groups (especially Pest Management and Entomology), and UC ANR Research and Extension Centers; to design and develop a statewide program that includes applied research, outreach, and extension education. External partners will include the California Department of Public Health, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, physician and patient advocacy groups focused on Lyme disease and other tick transmitted diseases (e.g., Lymedisease.org), US National Forest Service, county and local environmental and public health agencies including mosquito and vector control districts, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, Pest Control Operators of California (industry association representing 80% of state’s 55,000 licensed nonagricultural pest management professionals), and the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Justification: California residents in both rural and urban environments are put at risk by ticks, mites, and other pestiferous or disease-carrying ectoparasites. Ticks in California are most commonly encountered in rural and semi-rural settings (particularly in coastal and inland foothill regions) where they are known to transmit at least seven disease agents to humans, including Lyme disease, relapsing fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia and a new spotted fever group rickettsia (Rickettsia philipii) that was first reported from a California resident in 2010. California residents are at increasing risk of acquisition of these tick-transmitted diseases, with approximately 150 human infections by tick-transmitted diseases recorded in California during 2014 (the most current data reported by the California Department of Public Health). Ticks, mites, fleas, lice and bed bugs afflict people in urban and suburban areas as well, due in part to reduced pesticide use in and around homes, pesticide resistance by some of these pest species, and increasing incursion into peri-domestic areas by wild animals that host some of these ectoparasites. Currently, UC lacks expertise in the management of ticks, mites, and other ectoparasites of humans even though this is an area where state and local public health agencies and the public generally are looking for guidance and leadership. Mosquitoes and other Diptera that feed on humans and animals arenot foci of this position since those insect pests are already well studied within the University of California system. Applied research is needed to design effective strategies to manage ectoparasites of humans and to protect people from diseases transmitted by them. Further, extension and community engagement efforts are needed to educate clientele about risks posed by ectoparasites and the means to manage them.
Extension: The Assistant CE Specialist in Medical Acarology/Entomology will be expected to work with the UC and external networks (supporting units) identified above to deliver an extension and outreach education program to state and local public health agencies, pest management professionals (PMPs), pest control operator (PCO) companies, municipalities, and the public. Community engagement and outreach will occur through production of print and online educational materials, hands-on workshops, seminars, short courses, field days, and research or pest management demonstrations. Overall goals will be to increase public knowledge about managing ectoparasites and reducing risk of disease transmission to humans.
Research: The Assistant CE Specialist in Medical Acarology/Entomology will lead an applied research program that seeks to improve the management of ticks, mites, and other human ectoparasites and to decrease risk of disease transmission by them. For example, valuable research could evaluate the ecological and environmental requirements for these ectoparasites, efficacy of personal protection measures to reduce human biting by them, their associated feeding behaviors and habits (including on suitable non-human host animals that introduce ectoparasites into peri-domestic settings), and management strategies to reduce their populations or contact with at-risk humans. Results of this research could be published in peer-reviewed academic journals as well as UC ANR publications, trade magazines, online forums, and other mass-media venues.
Funding for the proposed research activities could be sought from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Bay Area Lyme Foundation, the Structural Pest Control Board, Mosquito and Vector Control Districts, and County Environmental Health Agencies.
ANR Network: Though several AES, CE, and other faculty study applied insect ecology and management within the proposed departmental home (UC Berkeley Department of ESPM) for this Assistant CE Specialist including Neal Tsutsui, Nick Mills, Kent Daane, and Gordon Frankie, urban and medical management of arthropod pests is a specific discipline that is somewhat underrepresented within ANR and the larger UC system. ESPM Professor of the Graduate School Robert Lane has studied the ecology and epidemiology of various tick-borne diseases and the biology of ticks in California for decades, though currently it is uncertain how much longer he will continue to conduct active research. Furthermore, there is a strong but small team already in place: UCCE Specialists Vernard Lewis (UC Berkeley, to retire in 2017), Alec Gerry, and Dong-Hwan Choe (both UC Riverside), UCCE Area Advisors Andrew Sutherland (SF Bay Area) and SiavashTaravati (southern CA), UC IPM Associate Director (Urban) KareyWindbiel-Rojas (also serves Sacramento area as 20% CE Advisor), Professor Emeritus Mike Rust (UC Riverside) Drs. Choe, Gerry, and Sutherland have already established regional and statewide applied research projects that could be expanded upon by the successful candidate. Needs assessment research in medical acarology/entomology is necessary to help steer research and extension programs moving forward; the Assistant CE Specialist would be expected to play a part in these efforts.
Network External to ANR: External partners include the federal, state, and municipal entities identified above as well as the National Pest Management Association, the Pest Control Operators of California, USDA’s Western IPM Center, and other land-grant universities’ medical and urban pest management programs.
Support: Office and laboratory space at UCB will be provided by the Department of ESPM. Administrative support and some research funds for the position will be provided by the supporting unit(s) in an amount commensurate with other ANR CE Specialists at UCB.
Other support: Numerous opportunities for funding exist, including from the state and local public health agencies identified above; federal agencies such as the NIH, CDC, US EPA and NSF; and private sector stakeholders including Lyme disease patient advocacy organizations, and pest management organizations.
Location: The successful candidate would be housed within UC Berkeley’s ESPM Department, an ideal location to take advantage of the UCB resources in public health, and near to the ANR Hopland Research and Extension Center where tick research has been conducted for 40+ years.
Developed and proposed by: This proposal was drafted by Alec Gerry and Andrew Sutherland, with input from UCB Professor Emeritus Robert Lane, UCCE/UCB Urban Entomologist Vernard Lewis and from UCB ESPM Chair George Roderick. This position was identified as a priority by UC ANR’s EntomologyWork Group and Pest Management Program Team during October 2015’s Joint Strategic Initiative Conference. These groups, composed of UCCE Advisors and Specialists as well as AES faculty, considered this position as vital for continued function of UC’s extension continuum.
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