Entomology Club Works With Local Peace Corps Volunteer

Peace Corps volunteer and Lancaster native Roger Brubaker, serving in Si Thep, a small village in Thailand, has been consulting with Millersville University biology professor and returned Peace Corps volunteer Dr. John Wallace (Guatemala ’83-’87), regarding mosquito surveillance and control to prevent incidences of Dengue fever by promoting the use of homemade mosquito traps.

According to the World Health Organization, Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral infection that causes flu-like illness, and can develop into a potentially deadly complication known as Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever. In terms of the severity of the disease, until 2003 Thailand reported the maximum number of dengue cases among the South East Asia Region countries. For the last 10 years the case load has been consistently above 10,000 but case fatality rate has remained below one percent. To date, Brubaker has helped more than 900 community members build the mosquito traps with common household products. There are six homemade mosquito traps set up in each house in the village. The traps are made of bamboo, a soda bottle, a metal screen, thumb tacks, paper clips, grass, water and a dark cloth.

As their interactions expanded and the needs of the village where Brubaker works and lives became more apparent, Wallace enlisted the help of Millersville’s Entomology Club, an organization that provides a place for students interested in entomology to share their interest through service, education and recreational activities. Coincidentally, the entomology club’s past president, Kristin Sloyer, has recently been accepted to the Peace Corps and will be heading to sub-Saharan Africa for her two-year service. Last fall, the club helped Wallace package two unused, outdated microscopes and microscopy supplies for Brubaker’s sister who transported them to Si Thep in Thailand while visiting her brother. During an elaborate ceremony, the scopes were presented to the principal of the school, Rong Rien, by Brubaker.

Millersville University currently has at least two recent graduates in the Peace Corps, one in Mozambique and the other in Ecuador.

“The current Peace Corps volunteer, Roger Brubaker, is being assisted by former and future Peace Corps volunteers; this interaction of service and education is what encapsulates the very mission of Peace Corps’ and in fact is a major component of the educational process for Millersville’s students. Many years ago, Peace Corps volunteers were referred to as President JFK’s ‘children.’ Well, what we have created here is an integrated Peace Corps extended family and all for the betterment of people worldwide through service,” said Wallace.

The Entomology Club has a long standing history of service to communities far and wide. This semester, the entomology club is helping assist an artist in the Harrisburg area, Pat Maguire’84, with a major art project by collecting and pinning insects that will be incorporated into the piece.

For more information about the entomology club, contact Wallace at John.Wallace@millersville.edu. For more information about Dengue fever, visit the World Health Organization website.