Utilizing Microbiome Transplants to Improve Landscape-Scale Mosquito Suppression
Logan Lee studied how to better control mosquito populations.
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Logan Lee, 18, of Honolulu, studied how to better control mosquito populations for his Regeneron Science Talent Search animal sciences project. More than 30 native Hawaiian birds are extinct because of avian malaria from invasive mosquitoes. Currently, mosquito populations are controlled by releasing reproductively incompatible males into the wild. When they mate, the wild females lay eggs that don’t hatch. This lowers the mosquito population, but reproductively incompatible males often struggle to survive in the wild.
In his project, Logan improved their survival by inoculating them with wild mosquito bacteria. Wild mosquitoes have important bacteria that benefit their health and development. His bacterial transplant helped the sterile males grow faster and survive better in the cold.
Logan, the child of Jan and Justin Lee, attends ‘Iolani School, where he is president of the school’s Surfrider Club. Over the course of the 2023 school year, the club cleaned up 2,000 pounds of trash from shorelines. Logan is also the co-outreach director of the Hawaii Youth Climate Coalition, which advocates the youth perspective on climate change. He also mentors youth in rowing at Ikaika Hawaii Watermans Academy and the Honolulu Rowing Club.
Beyond the Project
Logan advocated for his school to rename Discoverers’ Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. He became a student member on its inaugural Indigenous Peoples’ Day planning committee.
FUN FACTS: Logan’s grandmother taught him to make lei, traditional Hawaiian flower adornments, using ti leaves from his backyard.
