Category: Entomology and Wildlife Ecology
Meet our new faculty: Jennifer K. Peterson
December 08, 2023 Written by Katie Peikes | Jeremy Wayman
There is a common practice among the general population to squish or swat bugs.
For Jennifer K. Peterson, a lot of her work educates people that the very bug she studies should be picked up and put into a bag, not squashed on the scene.
“I always have to convince my family not to kill bugs,” Peterson said, with a chuckle.
Peterson, an assistant professor of medical entomology, is new to the University of Delaware and one of 11 new faculty in the UD College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), an unprecedented number of new faculty for the college. She is a faculty member of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology. A disease ecologist by trade, Peterson studies diseases spread by bugs that bite people, known as vector-borne diseases, and their relationship to the environment and public health.
In particular, Peterson studies Chagas disease, which can cause life-threatening cardiac and gastrointestinal conditions. Chagas disease is caused by a parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, which is spread by an insect called a kissing bug. A species of this kissing bug resides in Delaware. Surprisingly, the species has never been studied here before, and Peterson is on a mission to study it in the First State for the first time. She also wants to educate the general public about the kissing bug, its parasite and the disease to best protect people.
It’s not likely that these bugs or Chagas disease are going to be the next pandemic. However, we still need to know what the risk is.
Assistant professor of medical entomology
Her top tip? If you see a kissing bug, a black bug with dark orange stripes around the edges, don’t squish it. Instead, trap it. Grab it with a glove, baggie or paper towel, then wash your hands immediately. Then email her at jkp@udel.edu with a picture and she’ll tell you if it is a kissing bug or not — there are hundreds of lookalikes.
“These bugs are unique because they spread the pathogen through their excrement,” Peterson said. “You don't want to squish them, because that will spread the parasite everywhere.”
Kissing bugs infected with Trypanosoma cruzi (the Chagas parasite) generally spread the parasite to humans by defecating on or near to where they bite someone. The bite creates a crevice that allows the bug’s excrement with the parasite to seep into a person’s bloodstream. At least six million people around the world have been infected by Trypanosoma cruzi and have Chagas disease.
Peterson is interested in the Trympanosoma cruzi infection prevalence in kissing bugs and wild animals in Delaware. She takes a “One Health” approach, focusing on kissing bugs and Trypanosoma cruzi and their connection to people, animals, the environment and public health. She wants to know which species the bugs are feeding on, who the animal hosts are, and where the bugs reproduce. And that can clue her into where the bug is in the state, for example, if it’s hanging out near Delaware homes.
“It’s not likely that these bugs or Chagas disease are going to be the next pandemic,” Peterson said. “However, we still need to know what the risk is. To do that we need to identify where the bug is, what it’s eating, and where it reproduces so that we can educate the people in those areas on best practices when encountering a kissing bug.”
Peterson came to UD in Fall 2023 and so far, she’s focused on setting up her research projects and laboratory as well as recruiting students to do research with her. In Spring 2024, she’ll teach Conservation Biology (ENWC456), a course taken by undergraduate seniors. In 2025, she will teach a Medical Entomology course that she is currently designing.
“Medical entomology isn’t going to be just about bugs,” Peterson said. “It’s the intersection of public health, planetary health, and the environment — the intersection of all these different parts of the world. We’ll look at these issues through the framework of bugs that spread diseases.”
Peterson was drawn to the University of Delaware, and in particular, the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, because the department integrates wildlife ecology and entomology, rather than seeing them as two different and separate entities.
A native Oregonian, Peterson lived in the northeast for many years before moving back to the Beaver State in 2017. Missing the East Coast, she wanted to come back. The people she met at CANR during her interview made her feel welcomed.
“Everybody I met was very down to earth and unpretentious,” Peterson said. “And that stood out.”
As she’s been adjusting to life at UD, Peterson said her favorite spot to eat in Newark is Roots Natural Kitchen. She also enjoys grabbing a coffee from Brew Haha. But where you’ll find her most often is in her office in Townsend Hall, as she prepares to teach in Spring 2024.
“My door is almost always open,” Peterson said. “I’d love it if people stopped by and introduced themselves.”