VGL Undergraduates Present Research at UCD Undergraduate Research Conference
Congratulations to the 2025-26 undergraduate researchers of the Vector Genetics Lab for their participation in the UC Davis Undergraduate Research, Scholarship & Creative Activities Conference, held April 24–25, 2026.
Over the course of the academic year, these students have contributed to ongoing research efforts in the lab, culminating in poster and oral presentations at this annual campus-wide event. Their work reflects a strong commitment to scientific inquiry and collaboration.
The following students presented their research:
- Brian Jennings – “Projecting the Geographic Distribution of Malaria Vector Anopheles coluzzii Mosquitoes to a Data-Limited Region of the Gulf of Guinea Islands” (Poster)
- Mythri Kulkarni – “Mosquitoes on the Move: Are Insecticide-Treated Nets Driving Geographic Range Shifts in African Malaria Vectors?” (Oral Presentation)
- Teilani Miranda – “Development of Methods to Detect and Quantify Modified and Non-Modified Mosquitoes in Larval Habitats Using qPCR Analysis” (Poster)
- Nancy Roman-Vite – “Determining Predation of An. coluzzii Mosquitoes by Birds and Bats in São Tomé and Príncipe Through Fecal Sample Analysis” (Poster)
- Rithika Senthilkumar – “Who Eats Malaria-Carrying Mosquitoes? Detecting Aquatic Predators of Anopheles coluzzii Using Ingested DNA” (Oral Presentation)
Their projects span a range of topics, including mosquito population dynamics, vector ecology, molecular detection methods, and species interactions, highlighting the breadth of research undertaken within the lab.
Abstracts for all presentations are available in the conference proceedings
See the VGL Events & Activities gallery for additional photos.