2023 Election

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  Karen graduated from Old Dominion University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Environmental Studies. It was in this final year of college she started her journey in entomology with the City of Chesapeake Mosquito Control Commission as a biology intern. In 2012, Karen accepted the position as Biologist with the City of Suffolk Mosquito Control where she is responsible for conducting and overseeing field surveillance, larval and adult mosquito identification, arboviral and pesticide resistance testing, training and supervising seasonal staff, equipment maintenance and repair, among other tasks.

Throughout her first decade as a biologist, Karen has remained active in local, state, and national mosquito control organizations. From 2013-2015, she served on the local TMVCC board. Each year since 2012, she has participated in and/or served as chairperson on various committees of the VMCA including Education, Information, Membership, Merchandise, Special Awards, Student Competition, and as Website chair since 2019, was responsible for the rebuild when the old site crashed. She has taught at every VMCA Adult ID Course since 2012 and presented at every VMCA conference since 2013 (save one year on maternity leave). She presented Virginia’s new state records of Culex coronator and Culex nigripalpus at the 2018 AMCA conference and has participated in their Science & Technology and Mid-Atlantic Regional Nominating Committees, as well as reviewed manuscripts for publication in JAMCA.

Over the past 10 years, Karen has had the opportunity to collaborate with a variety of researchers, conduct many experiments, and coauthor several publications (Degener et al. 2021, Khalil et al. 2021, Little et al. 2021, Unlu et al. 2017, Molaei et al. 2015) to benefit the mosquito control community. She is primary author of three articles (Akaratovic et al. 2021, Akaratovic and Kiser 2017, Akaratovic et al. 2017), two of which document Virginia’s newest mosquito species, both discovered first in Suffolk. Karen hopes the knowledge and experience she has gained will be beneficial in continuing to serve the VMCA membership through a position on the board.

When she’s not in the mosquito lab, Karen enjoys spending time outdoors with her family, travelling, trying new foods, and MMO gaming.

  Lauren Lochstampfor is a senior Environmental Health Specialist with the Fairfax County Health Department’s Disease Carrying Insects Program. She received her B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Management from Michigan State University. 

Many years ago, Lauren began her career in mosquito control as a summer employee treating catch basins for Clarke in Illinois. Since that time, her experience with mosquito control has involved coordinating operations for private and municipal mosquito surveillance and control programs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia. 

In 2015 Lauren joined Fairfax County’s Disease Carrying Insects Program and worked to set up a comprehensive larval inspection and control program. 

When not working with mosquitoes and ticks, Lauren can be found at home in Manassas with her husband chasing her 3-year-old daughter around!

Michael Rollins is a 4-year VMCA member from Prince William County’s Mosquito and Forest Pest Office. He has worked conducting vector control and forest pest management since 2017. At his job he conducts inspections, quality control and outreach activities for our offices various pests. 

Prior to this, he was a working as a researcher and for his bachelors at George Mason University, focusing on aquatic ecology. He is a life-long Northern Virginian who has enjoyed protecting is fellow citizens from disease and his “backyards” trees. Michael believes strongly that his enjoyment for his work sprouts from his passion to be outside as much is possible. 

While not working he heads to the mountains or waterways for recreation, where he passively does his job noticing what mosquitos are biting him and what is destroying our forests. He has thoroughly enjoyed VMCAs contributions to vector control efforts through science communication, the annual conference, and tour de skeeter. 

Michael hopes to contribute to the ongoing success of VMCA and bring new insights to the Association.

Addie Weddle graduated from Radford University with a bachelor’s degree in Biology with a concentration in sustainability and environmental studies. During her time at Radford she studied abroad in the Peruvian Amazon rain forest where she completed an interactive project on the butterflies of the Amazon.

  
In 2021 Addie started as a mosquito control intern in York County. This is where she discovered her love for mosquito control, and spent a lot of her time doing outreach in the winter months. She is currently working as a mosquito control technician in the city of Portsmouth. 

In 2022, Addie volunteered to step up and take the role as interim first vice president for the VMCA board. She has a passion for expanding outreach, education, and growth within the vector control field. If elected, Addie is enthusiastic about advancing mosquito control programs using innovative and collaborative ideas, while also expanding her own personal knowledge. 

In her free time, she enjoys camping, reading, drawing and spending time with her dogs, Pepper and Winnie.