DAVIS — Mosquito researcher Tara Thiemann, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, is the 2010 winner of the William C. Reeves New Investigator Award, a statewide award given to the best scientific paper presented at the annual Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California (MVCAC) conference.

For her work, "Evaluating Trap Bias in Blood Meal Identification Studies," Thiemann received $1,000 and a plaque at the 78th annual MVCAC meeting, held in Sacramento.

Thiemann's research involves analyzing the blood meals of Culex mosquitoes throughout California and identifying host prevalence and feeding patterns.

Thiemann studies with major professor/research entomologist William Reisen of the Center for Vectorborne Diseases (known as CVEC) and a faculty member of the Entomology Graduate Program.

Thiemann, who joined the entomology graduate program in 2004, received her bachelor's and master's degree in biology from Truman State University, Kirksville, Mo. In 2008 she won a William Hazeltine Student Research Fellowship for her Culex mosquito studies.

Two other graduate students, also affiliated with CVEC, received second- and third-place awards in the Reeves New Investigator Award competition..

M. Veronica Armijos, a doctoral student in comparative pathology, won second place with her presentation on "Distribution and Prevalence of Novel Flaviviruses in California." She received $500.

Christy Andrade, a doctoral candidate in the microbiology graduate group, won third for her presentation on "Effect of Temperature on West Nile Virus Replication in Different Host Cell Types: Potential for Altered Transmission Cycles in California." She received $250.

The students are advised by Reisen and Aaron Brault of the CVEC faculty. Brault is an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and a research microbiologist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

CVEC faculty member Bruce Eldridge, emeritus professor of entomology and former director of the UC Mosquito Research Program, presented the awards.

The award memorializes William C. Reeves (1916-2004), a renowned entomologist and professor at UC Berkeley who was widely regarded as the world's foremost authority on the spread and control of mosquito-borne diseases. Reeves was a frequent visitor to the UC Davis campus.

Awardees must be an undergraduate or graduate student at a college or university in California, or a post-graduate scientist who received a degree no more than three years before submission of the scientific paper. The finalists present a 15-minute talk.

UC Davis students have received the top award for the four of the past five years.

2009
Malaria researcher Win Surachetpong, who studies with Shirley Luckhart of the UC Davis School of Medicine

2007
Mosquito researcher Carrie Nielsen, graduate student of William Reisen, CVEC and UC Davis Department of Entomology

2006
Malaria researcher Lisa Reimer, graduate student of Gregory Lanzaro, then with the UC Department of Entomology and then director of the UC Mosquito Research Program