Posted: November 13, 2025
Kara Fikrig is an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology who seeks to understand the crossroad of entomology and public health, and to better protect public health. She primarily studies mosquitoes and how the diseases they carry affect people.
This image shows Professor Kara Fikrig in the field in the Peruvian Amazon, holding the Prokopack aspirator, a device that she and her team use to collect mosquitoes inside of houses. Photo credit: Gregory Taylor
Her work and research has brought her around the world. One example being her time in the Peruvian Amazons where she was collecting mosquito samples to help identify diseases negatively affecting the health of local communities.
One of her important findings from the Peruvian amazon was that the Aedes Aegypti is actively invading rural communities, which is alarming because they have been primarily an urban problem. But her work has shown that these mosquitos are moving, hitchhiking on boats and interrural communities. Despite being an ongoing problem, there is still an opportunity to intervene before it becomes ubiquitous.
This research is important as it can help to find ways to prevent large scale diseases caused by mosquitos from developing illnesses in different communities in the U.S. and abroad. Mosquito borne diseases that we've seen in the past include malaria, West Nile virus, and yellow fever, which have devastated communities. Kara and those who work with her deem it of the utmost importance to help find ways to help protect communities and prevent the spread of diseases such as this.
This picture shows Professor Kara Fikrig speaking about her team's research on dengue mosquitoes in the Peruvian Amazon with elementary school students in the community of Canelos. Professor Fikrig's entomological work in communities often involves community engagement through a variety of techniques, ranging from workshops, such as the one pictured, to participatory research techniques. Photo credit: Gregory Taylor
