How to get paid to look for bugs: The importance of pest surveillance in government work

Anna R. Pasternak is the Invasive Species Coordinator/State Survey Coordinator/CAPS Coordinator for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS). She joined the team at VDACS in May 2023 after graduating with her PhD in Entomology at the University of Kentucky, where she directed the Kentucky State Tick Surveillance System. In this program, she worked with collaborators at University of Kentucky, Kentucky Department of Public Health, and CDC to build the first tick surveillance and testing system in Kentucky while promoting tick safety and education to a variety of groups across the state. As the Survey Coordinator at VDACS, she directs and manages surveys to look for pests and pathogens that threaten Virginia and U.S. agriculture. As the Invasive Species Coordinator, she is responsible for responding to invasive introductions, implementing programs to reduce the
number of invasive species in Virginia, and performing outreach to stakeholders and the general public on important invasives such as spotted lanternfly, imported fire ant, yellow legged hornet and any other insect that dares to invade Virginia.