Insect Update – Week of June 14th – Dry weather keeps mosquito numbers below 10-year average
June 23, 2021
National Mosquito Control Awareness Week 2021 – Follow Along with MMCD!
June 24, 2021
June 20-26, 2021 is National Mosquito Control Awareness Week! MMCD will be highlighting the various people that protect the public from disease and annoyance caused by mosquitoes, ticks, and black flies. Stay tuned to our website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for updates throughout the week!
Mosquito Field Technicians at the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District are some of the most critical parts of our team. Each year around 180 seasonal employees join us as mosquito, catch basin, or lab inspectors. These individuals come from a variety of backgrounds and career stages. Earlier this week we caught up with two field technicians from our North facility and today we catch up with three brand new Mosquito Field Technicians from the Maple Grove facility:
From left to right: Kyra, John, and Lila
John Hedberg, Mosquito Field Technician
Kyra Kjeldahl, Mosquito Field Technician
Lila Berg, Mosquito Field Technician
What is your background and how does it apply to MMCD?
JOHN: I just graduated with a degree in Biology from Purdue University. I'm back in town, working here for a year or two and then seeing about getting out of the Midwest, but Minnesota is nice.
LILA: I'm currently of University of Minnesota student studying biology, society, and the environment and I'm here getting some relevant experience right before I graduate.
KYRA: I am a rising senior at Luther College studying public health - I'm really interested in infectious disease, and disease vectors, so this is a perfect job for that.
How did you hear about this job?
JOHN: My dad worked for MMCD back in the day, I think 1979-80, and he keeps tabs on MMCD and saw there was a job opening and he said I should apply and see what happens since it's in my area with biology and healthcare so I applied and within 12 hours they responded so here I am.
LILA: MMCD had a virtual booth at our career fair so I heard about it through there and thought it was relevant field experience.
KYRA: I was looking up jobs online and found it. Pretty classic.
We have fun at MMCD!
What do you like about the job so far?
JOHN: Everyone is super friendly. I was nervous because I don't know anything about mosquito control, but everyone who was older was able to teach me the things I needed to know about the job. My Field Operations Supervisor, Andrea, is really good because she knows what to get done, when we need it done and she goes above and beyond and interacts with us. She's really nice and she knows when to give us more responsibility and when to cut us a little bit of slack - but not too much!
LILA: We're on the same crew and everyone is super nice. Coming in and having nice people to train with was great because they weren't like "you should know this right away," they were more willing to guide us and say "you'll get it." Andrea is super great - she isn't looming like a big supervisor, she addresses us like we're co-workers.
JOHN: It's a good relationship of trust. She'll be like, "I'm going to take it easy on you today, because you face planted on your first site."
KYRA: That happened to me yesterday!
JOHN: She knows we have a team to help pick up the slack.
KYRA: I had a similar experience on Shawn's crew. Everyone will answer their phone, which is so nice! Usually I'm scared to ask questions, but everyone is so good at helping.
What are things you've learned in your first couple of weeks here that you either didn't know about mosquitoes or think others don't know about them?
JOHN: What I didn't know is that even if it isn't rainy, mosquitoes are still working, they are still laying eggs waiting for that big rainfall to come and if there's a spot we missed, there are so many mosquitoes raring to go. I also didn't know about harborages - I remember complaining about mosquitoes before mosquito control and I had no idea they were just resting next to my house!
KYRA: I didn't even know there were 50 species and not all are human-biting! I kind of just assumed they all are. Even just the idea that eggs can survive a Minnesota winter is crazy!
Do you have any unique stories or experiences from your first season at MMCD?
JOHN: I had four sites and I loaded up for all four of them, so it's like 10 pounds of material in my backpack and I walk into the woods and I notice it's muddy, but I'm new and more cocky than I have any right to be and I take one misstep and immediately sank to my waist. I turned my backpack off and I'm still slowly sinking and I'm sitting on my phone, so I can't get it out of my pocket to call for help and I had a moment where I was like "is this how I go?" Three weeks in! I'm being a little dramatic, but eventually I was able to get my foot on a log and pull myself out.
LILA: Mine was more of a Google Maps issue than a personal issue. I had to access two sites in a residential area, super small sites, and Google took me a really weird way and I ended up walking through this huge air site, pushing through vines, climbing up a hill, and almost getting swept off my feet and I finally get out and realize the sites are actually right next to a road. Google Maps could have taken me right to them!
Anything else that you enjoy about MMCD?
KYRA: I feel like this job is the perfect balance of science and fun and being outside.
LILA: It's like hiking and science.
JOHN: There are habitats we see in Minnesota that I would not have guessed are in Minnesota. It's great!
Kyra is Taking Over the MMCD Instagram!
Kyra from the Maple Grove office will be taking over the MMCD Instagram on Thursday! Follow us on Instagram and watch the stories live or click on our profile and look at Story Highlights and find "Maple Grove 21" to see the photos and videos she posted.
Stay tuned for new highlights each day this week to celebrate National Mosquito Control Awareness Week! Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for mosquito control tips and news!
