Dr. Connally Wins 2019-2020 BOR System-Wide Research Award

Dr. Neeta Connally

Dr. Neeta Connally, associate professor of Biological and Environmental Sciences, was recognized with the system-wide research award by the Board of Regents of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, of which WCSU is a part. The BOR also cited Connally with a WCSU campus research award.

Dr. Connally, a medical entomologist who teaches and oversees the Tickborne Disease Prevention Laboratory at WCSU, is known for her work studying blacklegged ticks, which can carry multiple disease-causing agents including the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. For the past 10 years she has spent her summers monitoring tick populations and conducting studies to better understand backyard risk for tick-borne diseases. Her studies frequently include a human behavior component, enrolling household members who live in high-tick areas of the region. Connally’s research team includes undergraduate students who learn how to collect and identify ticks, how to properly handle scientific data, and how large-scale research studies work.

“Hopefully the students get a true experience of what research is really like,” Connally said. “In our case they may find it’s not glamourous or that data doesn’t come to you beautifully set out and ready for analysis. Sometimes collecting quality data involves sweating in the sun or risking mosquito bites or poison ivy.” Connally’s research is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Environmental Protection Agency. She and students also collaborate on Lyme disease prevention projects with the Ridgefield Health Department, the Nuvance Health hospital network, Yale Emerging Infections Program, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, and the TickEncounter Resource Center at the University of Rhode Island.