Katie Westby
Tyson Staff Scientist
“I’ve been at Tyson for a long time. I was a visiting researcher there during my PhD, then a postdoc for 5 years, and now I have a new staff scientist position. I do research and I’m going to be helping with things like strategic planning and helping other researchers with their applications.
For the last few months I’ve been writing up all the work we’ve done in the last couple of years, mainly looking at urbanization and mosquitoes: how do artificial light at night and land-use impact mosquito populations? I just submitted a National Institutes of Health grant to hopefully start looking at newly established mosquito populations in Southern California. I want to collect them and see if they’ve adapted to the hotter, drier climates out there.”
How has COVID-19 affected your research?
“Honestly, I got really lucky. I wasn’t planning on collecting any data this summer so it hasn’t really affected me that much. But a lot of people at Tyson can’t collect their data at all this year. It’s been devastating, especially for the students. They have a limited timeframe to collect data, do a thesis or internship. If you’re a grad student working in the field it’s hard to lose a whole field season. It’s definitely been devastating for a lot of people.”
What is the best, and worst, part of your standard work day at Tyson this summer?
“I think the best part is being able to sleep in a little later. The worst part is the lack of comradery. I miss my people. You know, normally I would have known you relatively well by the time we do this interview. I miss being around everybody and being able to pop into people’s office and see what they’re doing.”
For the Tyson Summer 2020 field season, what has your morning routine looked like?
“You mean compared to what it normally looks like during the summer at Tyson? Oh, it’s night and day. Normally during the summer I’m running a team of students and I’m rushing to get there at 7:45 a.m. to eat something real fast and then find my team and make sure they know what they’re doing. Now, I sleep in a little bit, maybe go for a walk before it gets hot, and then I kinda settle into my desk.
I mean, it’s completely different. Normally every day in the summer feels like a marathon. Now it feels like I’m hanging out in a shallow pool, just sort of floating around.”