Stephen M. Rich is a Professor of Microbiology and Research Scientist at University of Massachusetts (UMass), Amherst, MA, USA. He completed his B.Sc. in Biology at St. Lawrence University (1989) and M.Sc. in Zoology (specializing in Mammalogy) at University of Vermont (1992); continued graduate studies at Harvard University (ABD); and completed his Ph.D. in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at University of California, Irvine (1997). He was an Assistant Professor at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2000–2005. Then, he joined the UMass faculty and later became Department Head in Plant, Soil, and Insect Sciences (2009–2013). He is currently the Director of the Laboratory of Medical Zoology at UMass and recently launched the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-borne Diseases (NEWVEC), for which he serves as Executive Director. The diseases primarily studied in his lab are vector-borne zoonoses, i.e., those whose transmission is facilitated by a blood-feeding arthropod. In recent years, his research focus has taken a more applied direction. He is now not only studying the basic biology of these pathogens and their transmission but also investigating means of intervening.