Oh how time flies: Updates that don't suck
Howdy! I want to first and foremost apologize for not affirming those who invested their support into our project, before and after it. While we adapted to limitations, I should’ve been much more flexible about making updates and involving others, and I’m sorry I didn’t put in the effort to make our project engaging and dynamic, especially compared to new projects in these trying times.
However, this study did play a pivotal role in my academic, professional, and personal life, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without y’all. It was a piece of larger, on-going research about mosquito population genetics by the DeGennaro Lab at the University of Florida. Thanks to your support, I was able to present the preliminary findings at the Society for Vector Ecology’s 49th Annual Conference in Puerto Rico, which I’ve uploaded here. 2019 brought a lot of firsts, including my first research project, grant, and conference poster! Looking back, it was clearly a product of its time, so I hope you’ll trust that I’ve grown a lot and have become a very different researcher compared to then.
Those mosquito bites left me itching for more, so I’m happy to share that I’ve been continuing to pursue research in zoonotic and vector-borne diseases, including detecting the invasive Asian Longhorned Tick in SC for the first time. I have posted other updates on my LinkedIn if you’d like to see what I've been up to. I am now a first-year MS student in Epidemiology at the University of Washington in Seattle, where I’m developing spillover risk maps for a project supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development to detect emerging pandemic-potential viruses for government stakeholders around the world. My ever-changing interests have included health disparities and human-centered design, so I haven’t made long-term plans, but I’ll be applying to PhDs and considering jobs this fall. I know that lots has changed, but great things are coming soon, though I can’t share quite yet!
Alas,
McKenzi Norris
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