Student Research Reports

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The main objective of GLOBE is to get citizens involved in scientific research and the protection of Earth's systems, through the analysis of data collected in the field to answer questions about climate change and unplanned urbanization impacts on the environment. But how to collect data from disease-transmitting mosquitoes in quarantine from the COVID-19 pandemic, and what genus of mosquitoes is most frequent in our homes? The study investigates the possibility of students collecting mosquito data using homemade mosquito traps, with reused material, such as PET bottles, in a safe way, ensuring the quarantine, within their own homes, and in this way, respecting the health rules to prevent COVID-19. To observe the larvae of the traps, students used the Globe Observer mosquito habitat mapper (MHM). The students could collect, count, identify and send data to the GLOBE platform using the MHM app. After the data collection of the mosquito trap was completed, the water was safely disposed of and the traps were rebuilt for new mosquito data collection. It is important to remember that mosquitos are the most dangerous animal in the world because they can transmit diseases such as dengue, urban yellow fever, chikungunya, and zika virus. We also ask a question about which genus of the mosquito is the most frequently found in students’ homes during the coronavirus pandemic. It was possible to verify during the data collection period of the capture traps (traps for transparent 1.5 L PET bottles with fish food), between August 2020 and February 2021, using the Globe Observer MHM app, that there were security and respect to sanitary measures to prevent COVID-19, since students were quarantined in their own home. Answering the other question made in this study: The genus of mosquitoes most frequently found in our homes during the pandemic time was Aedes.