Lover Appointed Pioneer Valley Mosquito Control District Commissioner
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Associate Professor of Epidemiology Andrew Lover has been selected as a commissioner of the Pioneer Valley Mosquito Control District (PVMCD). He began his term on the five-member board of commissioners on July 1, 2024.
The PVMCD provides mosquito control services, suppressing both nuisance and disease-carrying mosquito populations, to municipalities in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties. The PVMCD falls under the oversight of the State Reclamation and Mosquito Control Board (SRB), which sits within the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.
An expert in infectious disease epidemiology and vector-borne diseases, Lover will provide his knowledge and experience to help set and communicate mosquito control plans and policies in the Pioneer Valley region. He also serves as Deputy Director of the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases (NEWVEC), awarded to UMass Amherst in 2022 and funded through a $10 million, five-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to prevent vector-borne diseases and test evidence-based solutions for more effective control of ticks and mosquitoes across New England.