As an extension of her educational efforts, Sonja has led specialized training workshops, including Advanced Mosquito Identification and a 3-Day Master Certification and Tick workshop. Sonja’s courses promote productive and environmentally sound vector control and thoroughly equip participants with constructive vector management tools. While the workshops include a spoken overview of common mosquitoes and ticks in participants’ areas, Sonja allows workshop attendees to examine common pests under a microscope, strategically incorporating a hands-on element into her workshops to improve participants’ ability to identify specimens. Sonja also shows participants how to test mosquitoes for insecticide resistance and which application methods are most appropriate and effective.

To gauge the success of her educational programs, Sonja carefully studies her course evaluations to identify areas of improvement in her courses and workshops. Course evaluations indicate that Sonja’s recertification classes have an average annual satisfaction rating of 98%. More importantly, 95 to 99% of workshop attendees report that Sonja’s informative, engaging workshops increase their knowledge of IPM practices in vector management.