Mosquito-vectored pathogens are responsible for devastating human diseases and are (re)emerging in many urban environments. Effective mosquito control in urban landscapes relies on improved understanding of the complex interactions between the ecological and social factors that define where mosquito populations can grow. We compared the density of mosquito habitat and pupae production across economically varying neighborhoods in two temperate U.S. cities (Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC). Seven species of mosquito larvae were recorded. The invasive Aedes albopictus was the only species found in all neighborhoods. Culex pipiens, a primary vector of West Nile virus (WNV), was most abundant in Baltimore, which also had more tire habitats. Both Culex and Aedes pupae were more likely to be sampled in neighborhoods categorized as being below median income level in each city and Aedes pupae density was also greater in container habitats found in these lower income neighborhoods. We infer that lower income residents may experience greater exposure to potential disease vectors and Baltimore residents specifically, were at greater risk of exposure to the predominant WNV vector. However, we also found that resident-reported mosquito nuisance was not correlated with our measured risk index, indicating a potentially important mismatch between motivation needed to engage participation in control efforts and the relative importance of control among neighborhoods.

Social, ecological, and climatic factors interact creating a heterogeneous matrix that determines the spatiotemporal distribution of mosquitoes and human risks of exposure to the diseases they transmit. We explore linkages between the social and institutional processes behind residential abandonment, urban ecology, and the interactions of socio-ecological processes with abiotic drivers of mosquito production. Specifically, we test the relative roles of infrastructure degradation and vegetation for explaining the presence of Aedes albopictus Skuse 1894 to better predict spatial heterogeneity in mosquito exposure risk within urban environments. We further examine how precipitation interacts with these socially underpinned biophysical variables. We use a hierarchical statistical modeling approach to assess how environmental and climatic conditions over 3 years influence mosquito ecology across a socioeconomic gradient in Baltimore, MD. We show that decaying infrastructure and vegetation are important determinants of Ae. albopictus infestation. We demonstrate that both precipitation and vegetation influence mosquito production in ways that are mediated by the level of infrastructural decay on a given block. Mosquitoes were more common on blocks with greater abandonment, but when precipitation was low, mosquitoes were more likely to be found in higher-income neighborhoods with managed container habitat. Likewise, although increased vegetation was a negative predictor of mosquito infestation, more vegetation on blocks with high abandonment was associated with the largest mosquito populations. These findings indicate that fine spatial scale modeling of mosquito habitat within urban areas is needed to more accurately target vector control.

Citizen science (CS) has been an increasingly utilized means by which scientists leverage members of the public to increase the amount of data collected and analyzed. However, the underrepresentation of individuals from certain socio-cultural groups can have consequences that can manifest in the scientific outcomes of those CS projects such as biases in the data. Additionally, this underrepresentation can potentially affect long-term viability and support of CS as a community of practice. CS programs that promote greater inclusivity would likely provide opportunities for communities to define, investigate, and address pressing issues in collaboration with professional scientists. In this paper we discuss a CS project that sought to include underrepresented communities in Baltimore, Maryland using Pandya's framework for inclusive CS. While the project met all of its scientific research goals, translating the CS for broader social outcomes in the community proved challenging. Here we highlight perspectives from local community members and research personnel about the barriers to CS engagement, challenges in translating scientific outcomes to social justice efforts, and opportunities to address these barriers in CS program development and design.

This paper argues that mosquitoes help shape urban residents’ perspectives on and interactions with their human neighbours and the larger physical environment. A total of twenty-two residents of six Washington, D.C.-area neighbourhoods participated in interviews about mosquito management and community environmental issues. Participants came from households enrolled in a larger study about mosquito ecology and management. This and other studies have found that conventional mosquito-prevention education has mixed and sometimes counterproductive or unexpected impacts on resident attitudes and practices towards mosquito management. We found that residents constructed lay ecological knowledge to explain the place of mosquitoes in shifting urban socio-natures. Participants’ relational understanding of mosquitoes indicates that management interventions focusing on individual education and private space are insufficient. Overall, residents expressed concern about changing numbers, species, and vector potential of mosquitoes. They reported altering their own use of outdoor spaces due in part to concerns about mosquitoes but also expressed longing for renewed social and environmental engagement. Many participants also suspected their neighbours of practices that worsened infestations. To reshape traditional public health strategies, this paper proposes that health educators pursue community-based strategies that build upon residents’ lay knowledge and concerns, which may inspire engagement with urban socio-natures beyond their own backyards.

Peter Matthiessen's Wildlife in America says little about the bodily connections between humans and wildlife. But environmental historians' growing interest in health should be extended to wildlife stories because humans' relationships with wildlife have shaped environmental health ideas, policies, and inequalities. Embodied wildlife histories would also encompass many common creatures that are not typically considered wildlife, such as Norway rats. The same processes of urbanization and landscape change that endangered many of the more charismatic species in Matthiessen's account also supported synanthropic species like rats and white-tailed deer, and increased contact between them and human communities. Histories of zoonotic diseases such as plague and encephalitis that jump from wildlife to humans in cities and exurbs can shed light on similar threats that have recently arisen, including Lyme disease and West Nile virus.