Mt. SAC Early College Academy Students Highlight Ecological Dangers of Invasive Species

A large mosquito made from recycled materials – surrounded by the words “Small bite, big threat” – provided a menacing backdrop as four Mt. SAC Early College Academy students discussed the dangers of the Aedes Albopictus mosquito during the Environmental Issues Fair on March 15.

Zoe Burrola, Gianna Ngo, Adrianna Sanabria, and Desire Soto earned second place at the Academy’s first-ever fair for their project highlighting the impact of the invasive Asian tiger mosquito, which can introduce diseases like the Zika virus and upset local ecosystems.

“It was very challenging to do research at this level and to figure out how to present it clearly,” Sanabria said. “This was definitely a team effort, we really bonded as a group because of it.”

The four freshmen interviewed community members about their knowledge of mosquitoes, researched how time of year impacts the number of calls to vector control and predicted how service calls may increase over time, outlined the dangers posed by mosquitoes and presented three solutions for reducing the impact of mosquitoes.

Mt. SAC Early College Academy provides students with the opportunity to earn a high school diploma and up to two years of transferrable college credit simultaneously.

The Academy is accepting 2019-20 enrollment applications for sophomores and waitlist applications for freshmen from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties. Visit the Academy website to apply.