Dr. Harrington became interested in global health issues and vector-borne diseases after living and working for several years in rural Thailand. She contracted both dengue and malaria while living abroad and realized the impact these infections have on children and adults in resource poor nations. Her research focuses on the biology, ecology and behavior of mosquitoes that transmit human diseases. Current research projects in her laboratory focus on the feeding behavior of mosquito vectors of dengue fever and West Nile virus, human and animal-mosquito interactions, mosquito reproductive biology and behavior. Dr. Harrington studies mosquito biology in the field locally as well as abroad, with field sites in Thailand and southern Chiapas, Mexico. She recently began a cross-disciplinary project on climate change and West Nile virus risk to human health in the United States. Two other new projects involve the mating biology of the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti and development/ecology of transgenic mosquitoes that are refractory to disease pathogens. The latter project is sponsored through a Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Harrington has no formal extension appointment, but she is active in extension and outreach activities in New York and the Northeastern United States. She offers courses in Medical and Veterinary Entomology (ENTOM 352), a non-majors course, Plagues and People (BIO&SOC/ENTOM 210) and she teaches the malaria module of Introduction to Global Health (NS 206). She also offers seminars with international service in learning formats including ENTOM 410 Malaria Interventions in Ghana, and ENTOM 411 Health Care in Honduras. She advises and mentors a large group of undergraduate and graduate students in the areas of entomology, ecology and evolutionary biology, biomathematics, general biology, animal science, and biology and society.