Biological parallels and ecosystem drivers across plant, animal, and human vector-borne diseases is the central theme of the BVBD course. I attended this course as a Ph.D. Entomology student in 2019, and after graduating I accepted a position with the IHHE where my main responsibilities include a leadership role in organizing the BVBD course. Having taken an earlier version of the BVBD course and now working to improve it provides a unique perspective since I have both received this training and assisted with the intellectual and logistical aspects of course planning. Knowing expectations from a participant’s viewpoint helped me to approach the course’s logistics from a point of view not represented by other committee members. It takes 10 months of consistent effort; I plan and coordinate 35+ instructors' presentations and travel, respond to inquiries from 200+ applicants from around the world, and address unexpected events during the course. But more importantly, I also contribute to the course’s intellectual organization and to addressing new areas, such as incorporating the spirit of the JPA into our curriculum and recruiting new instructors. Working on the BVBD course enables me to hone organizational skills and to continue direct connections with vector-borne disease science.
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