Thank you to all who attended our 91^st Annual conference! This year’s conference saw close to 600 attendees and exhibitors, and featured almost 100 speakers, in the two-and-a-half-day event. Thank you to these speakers for taking the time to talk about their work and for sharing it with the association! We appreciate everything everyone does to make this event a success and we look forward to seeing everyone next year in Monterey January 21-24, 2024!

A special thank you to our session moderators who kept the sessions moving smoothly during the event:

• Rhiannon Jones
• Eric Haas-Stapleton/Marty Scholl
• Jamesina Scott/Stephen Abshier
• Chris Barker
• Mustapha Debboun/Angela Caranci
• Nola Woods
• Sarah Wheeler
• Laura Krueger/Bob Cummings
• Mark Daniels/Peter Bonkrude

A BIG thank you to all of the companies that supported our event, especially our sponsors:

• Azelis
• Valent BioSciences Corporation, LLC
• Central Life Sciences
• Clarke
• Veseris
• Valent BioSciences Corporation, LLC
• Target Specialty Products
• AMVAC
• MGK

Award information

Reeves New Investigator Award

This year’s Reeves New Investigator Award was awarded to

• Mark Dery on his talk titled Effect of Bed Bug (Hemiptera Cimicidae) aldehydes efficacy of fungal biopesticides

Congratulations to our two Honorable Mention award winners

• Modeling mosquito abundance near rice fields in Placer County Esmeralda Mendoza, UC Berkeley
• Socioeconomic and environmental factors associated with the risk of Dengue Fever incidence in Guatemala Kasem Umer Salim, UC Merced

William Walton Poster Competition

This year was the Inaugural William Walton Poster Competition, which featured just under 20 poster submissions. Bill Walton was a long time UC Riverside professor who was known and appreciated for his excellent, sustained collaborative work with mosquito abatement districts over his entire career, particularly those in the southern California region. He believed in and supported their mission, crossed the line between basic and applied science with natural ease, and thus exemplified the ideal agricultural experiment station scientist. Bill was a champion of our industry and he is greatly missed.

The William Walton Poster Competition will continue in Bill’s memory at the MVCAC conference, and we look forward to the competition growing as the years go on!

• Evaluation of a Cordless Heat Gun for Ovicidal Treatment of Aedes aegypti Eggs
• Finding the right mix: A comparison of yeast fermentation solutions as an alternative carbon dioxide source for BG-Sentinel traps
• Truck-mounted Wide Area Larviciding treatments for Aedes aegypti control in Northern Tulare County

MVCAC Awards Presented

Congratulations to our new Honorary Member, Robert Cummings from the Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District

Tamara Davis received the Service with Distinction award (received by her son Alex)



Richard Snyder was awarded the Presidential Citation

View and upload photos from the 91st Annual Conference here

MVCAC Legislative Conference & Spring Committee Meetings

March 20 – 22, 2022

Sacramento, CA

March 20^th

• 3:00 to 5:00 PM – Legislative Training

March 21^st

• 8:00 to 3:00 PM – Legislative Visits
• 3:00 to 6:00 PM – Committee Meetings Begin

March 22^nd

• 8:00 AM to 5:45 PM – Committee Meetings

Draft Agenda is available now behind the member login here.

Hotel Booking Information:

Phone: (916) 446-0100 Block code is MVC

Online: 2023 MVCAC Leg Day and Spring Meeting

Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown Arena

300 J St

Sacramento, CA 95814

Registration NOW OPEN: PacVec Annual Meeting 2023!

MVCAC member districts are invited to the 6th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases (PacVec) to be held April 6-7, 2023. The meeting will be an in-person event at the International Center on the campus of the University of California in Davis, California. Please mark your calendars and register for the meeting! 

Registration: https://ucdavis.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5AXAtjSTfLK5ZK6.  

Please fill out the registration form above for each individual who will attend so that we will have a head count and contact information for everyone as the meeting approaches. Due to limitations on meeting space, please limit initial registrations to two attendees per agency. We will update this information closer to the meeting date if space allows.

Hotel rooms with discounted rates are available at both Hyatt Place UC Davis and Aggie Inn in Davis, CA. If needed, please book your hotel rooms at your earliest convenience (details below). 

PacVec is supported by CDC and serves the southwestern U.S., Hawaii, and the US-affiliated Pacific Islands. Our goal is to improve the capacity of our region to respond to threats from vector-borne diseases through a combination of research, training, and collaboration. The PacVec annual meeting will include presentations on research progress and plans, current issues in vector-borne diseases in our region, and updates on training and engagement with our community of practice.

Please send questions anytime to questions@pacvec.us or to coordinator Celia Chen at celchen@ucdavis.edu.

Hotel Accommodations (be sure to book early):

Rooms with discounted rates are available at two hotels here in Davis. Below are the booking links along with brief descriptions of the hotel facilities. Both are excellent accommodations - Aggie Inn is downtown and a 16 min walk from the meeting site, and the Hyatt Place is on the UC Davis campus and a 21 min walk to the meeting site. If you want a specific hotel, note that each block of rooms is limited, and booking early is highly recommended. 

Aggie Inn is in Downtown Davis and conveniently located close to UC Davis. From a one-of-a-kind, cottage-style hotel, you can explore all that the area has to offer. The room blocks and discounted rates will expire on March 4, 2023. 

1.  Make reservations here or call the hotel directly and make a reservation at (530)-756-0352 using the group name: PacVec Annual Meeting 2023 and group number: GB49F1. 
2. Visit Google Maps for walking directions and location of the hotel.

Hyatt Place UC Davis is located on the UC Davis campus, next to the Mondavi Center, Manetti Shrem Museum and within walking distance to many campus facilities and Downtown Davis. Enjoy free breakfast by making reservations using the link provided below. Rooms are first-come, first-served (no specific expiration), so booking early is highly recommended!

1.  Make reservations here. Click on the “Book Now” button, enter your arrival and departure dates, and click the “Book Now” button again. Corporate or Group Code should autogenerate, but if not, please enter 31653 as the group code. 
2. Visit Google Maps for walking directions and location of the hotel and visit here for hotel location and transportation Information.

PacVec Training Grants – Proposals Due March 30!

The annual call for proposals for the PacVec training grant program is now open. Proposals are invited for training grants that are consistent with the PacVec mission and should address themes relevant for public-health policy. This year’s PacVec training grant program offers two different award types:

1. Curricular Enhancement in Public-Health Entomology
2. Mentored Research for Students and Postdoctoral Scholars

The application deadline is Thursday, March 30, 2023 by 11:59 pm PDT. Please visit the training grant website for details on eligibility, application requirements, and more. These grants are an excellent opportunity for collaboration between mosquito control or public health agencies and academic researchers at any college or university within our region. Interested agencies are encouraged to reach out to potential collaborators to discuss ideas for possible projects.

Summer Internship Program – Applications Due February 24!

PacVec is excited to announce the call for proposals for the new summer internship program. Proposals are invited for summer internship opportunities that are consistent with the CoE mission and should address themes relevant for public-health policy. Proposals must involve undergraduate summer internships that offer opportunities for practical training and experience in public-health entomology or related fields. Typically, undergraduate interns gain experience through summer work with a partner mosquito/vector control or public health agency, followed by mentored on-campus experience in laboratory methods, data analysis and scientific writing. Ideally, internships will culminate in networking opportunities and a presentation of results at a state or regional vector control or public health meeting such as the annual MVCAC conference.

The application deadline is Friday, February 24, 2023 by 11:59 pm PST. Please visit the internship program website for details on eligibility, application requirements, and more. MVCAC members who have ideas for internships are welcome to reach out ASAP to potential faculty mentor(s) at any of our seven PacVec universities (https://pacvec.us/meet-our-team/). Once internship opportunities are identified, mentors will be expected to help with development of project proposals and recruitment of interns from their university.