Dina Fonseca is a Professor of Entomology. One of Dr. Fonseca's primary research interests are invasive mosquitoes, which transmit viruses such as those that result in Zika and dengue fevers. Her research has shown that mosquito populations can differ significantly across short distances and over time, changing epidemiological landscapes and risk estimates. Her lab has also shown that mosquitoes move primarily associated with people (in boats, trucks and cars) and that association selects for sub-populations more likely to bite us. Dr. Fonseca works closely with county and state mosquito control programs and the public to develop effective and efficient strategies for mosquito and invasive species control that are sustainable and minimize impacts to the environment. More recently, Dr. Fonseca has started developing predictive tools to forecast changes in salt marsh mosquito populations due to sea-level rise and strategies used to mitigate its impact on coastal communities. Predictive model and enhanced surveillance will allow mosquito control programs in coastal counties to develop proactive strategies and mitigate nuisance, disease and environmental impacts.
Journal articles:
Occi, J. L., Hall, M., Egizi, A. M., Robbins, R. G., & Fonseca, D. M. (2021). First record of carios kelleyi (Acari: Ixodida: Argasidae) in New Jersey, United States and implications for public health. Journal of medical entomology.
Egizi, A., Bulaga-Seraphin, L., Alt, E., Bajwa, W. I., Bernick, J., Bickerton, M., Campbell, S. R., Connally, N., Doi, K., Falco, R. C., Gaines, D. N., Greay, T. L., Harper, V. L., Heath, A. C. G., Jiang, J., Klein, T. A., Maestas, L., Mather, T. N., Occi, J. L., ... Fonseca, D. M. (2020). First glimpse into the origin and spread of the Asian longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, in the United States. Zoonoses and Public Health.
Ferreira, F. C., Fonseca, D. M., Hamilton, G., & Price, D. (2020). Metagenomic analysis of human-biting cat fleas in urban northeastern United States of America reveals an emerging zoonotic pathogen. Scientific reports.
Valentin, R. E., Fonseca, D. M., Gable, S., Kyle, K. E., Hamilton, G. C., Nielsen, A. L., & Lockwood, J. L. (2020). Moving eDNA surveys onto land: Strategies for active eDNA aggregation to detect invasive forest insects. Molecular Ecology Resources.
Stone, C. M., Schwab, S. R., Fonseca, D. M., & Fefferman, N. H. (2019). Contrasting the value of targeted versus area-wide mosquito control scenarios to limit arbovirus transmission with human mobility patterns based on different tropical urban population centers. PLoS neglected tropical diseases.
Dusfour, I., Vontas, J., David, J. P., Weetman, D., Fonseca, D. M., Corbel, V., Raghavendra, K., Coulibaly, M. B., Martins, A. J., Kasai, S., & Chandre, F. (2019). Management of insecticide resistance in the major Aedes vectors of arboviruses: Advances and challenges. PLoS neglected tropical diseases.
Other publications:
Valentin, R., Lockwood, J., & Fonseca, D. (2019). A Method of Aggregating Environmental DNA for.
