Vector Encounter is a fantastic meeting at JHU - this year held on May 28th and 29th. Chalk talks only and a lot of down time to mingle with other vector biologists. Highly recommend!
Posts by Brandy St. Laurent
I broke my usual rule of not talking in the theater to lean to my partner to whisper "he didn't balance the centrifuge!"
Also highly recommend the book
Cambridge Distillery has an "Anty Gin" - infused with wood ants. Pretty good actually, citrusy.
We are launching the new URBAN-VECTOR Training Program! Building an India–Africa network to strengthen urban malaria control in Africa through research, training, and collaboration! 🌍🦟
Come check us out and apply to be part of the team: www.urbanmalarianetwork.com
#UrbanMalaria #GlobalHealth
Lord of the rings: Merry looks into the glowing palantir orb… and screams
“Cant sleep… i’ll just have a quick look at my phone”
Anopheles mosquito.
1/6 Our paper today – www.nature.com/articles/s41... work from Kenya - shows protective antibodies against falciparum malaria sporozoites work against sporozoites injected into the skin, not against sporozoites injected into veins. Why does this matter?
We are excited to invite abstract submissions for talks and posters for the 2026 Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases meeting at Virginia Tech (June 2-4). Abstract submissions should be made by February 3, 2026 for consideration, using the google form here: cpe.vt.edu/eeid2026/abs...
Come see our Urban Malaria Team at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) 2025 meeting! We have an exciting line-up of talks and posters on the effects of climate, control, urban heterogeneity, and climate change on malaria transmission in cities!
Happy Halloween! Sending love, empathy, hope, resilience, harmony, self-care, and general good vibes to triumph over darkness from the EcoDyn VP Lab Care Bears Stare this Halloween 2025!
doodle of a mosquito wearing a vampire cape with a giant red bow, comical teeth on her snout, sipping a bloody mary with ice cubes and celery.
Happy Halloweeny, Bloody Marry responsibly (we partying tomorrow)
#SciArt
Congrats Marilou! Nice to see this out!
Line drawing of a two story institutional building with a sign in front, "Welcome to the BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT. It has been 3 days since we discovered something existentially horrifying about abugs that make you question your whole reality."
The new XKCD has to be a reference to the ant paper where ants just casually lay eggs of a different species, yes? Maybe? There are so many weird bugs its hard to know.
The glassblower who made custom feeders was just around the lab for a tour, and he said that the Cornell glass shop can take orders from other institutions!
If anyone is interested in having these or other glass feeders made, I can put you in touch.
We're in the world, not against it.
This temple is so beautiful, perched on high cliffs where you can see for miles into Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos.
I hope this violence subsides and that unique places like this can be protected.
I’ve been sad to see news about the violence between Thailand and Cambodia over Preah Vihear temple - on the very northern edge of Cambodia.
I was lucky to have been able to visit this site with my field team while doing malaria mosquito collections in Preah Vihear province over several years.
New preprint from our group on how indoor and outdoor microclimates vary across Indian cities and seasonally: essopenarchive.org/doi/full/10....
@mcwimberly.bsky.social and Yusuf Jamal provide data identifying the location and seasonal timing of extreme wet bulb temperature in urban settings.
@ecodynvplab.bsky.social
Our mosquito feeders from the Cornell glass shop were recently featured in an article about scientific glass:
news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...
Custom scientific glassware is really important for our work! Warm water circulates through these feeders to keep blood warm for our hungry mosquitoes.
New preprint out from our group! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We find that relative humidity systematically shifts the temperature dependence of a key malaria vector. These effects are also likely important for aquatic insects more generally, and for predicting their responses to climate change.
"Musk’s sojourn in government has revealed severe flaws in his character — a blithe, dehumanizing cruelty, and a deadly incuriosity. This should shape how he’s seen for the rest of his public life."
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/o...
It was indeed heavily edited during our lab meeting.
PhD Timeline xkcd.com/3081
Keep VEuPathDB open-access to all by subscribing today! veupathdb.org/veupathdb/ap...
Interested in trait evolution and/or connecting micro and macroevolution? The Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics Workshop has returned, now at Mountain Lake Biological Station, VA, June 9-13th! Deadline for application April 4th, 5pm EST. More info here: eqgw.github.io
The VEuPathDB survey asked users to estimate the impact on their lab's productivity (from 0-100) if VEuPathDB resources were to disappear altogether. We also asked them to describe the impact. ✏️The infographic lists a few key themes that emerged from nearly 1500 comments!
RNA xkcd.com/3056
I think this is a great idea - writing to your hometown newspapers about your science and the impact of these drastic cuts on our research. I am writing a letter to the editor of my local paper this week - you should too.
I like weather undergound - which has cloudcover by hour 10 days out and lots of plots