Kuzy Zarzosa, B.S.

Biology

LinkedIn

research technician

Kuzy is from Lima, Peru and joined the Sayes Group as a research technician. She graduated from UTRGV with a BS in Biology and a minor in Psychology. Kuzy’s past projects included mosquito surveillance and biodiversity. She is currently working on in-vivo studies of Sindbis virus and Zika virus, as well as studies on Brevipalpus mites and molecular assays for agricultural pests Anastrepha ludens and Diaphorina citri. She currently lives in south Texas, working remotely at the Mission-USDA-APHIS laboratory. Kuzy intends to start an MS program in the fall and later apply to a PhD program after completion.


MEMBERSHIPS

  • American Association of University Women in STEM Fields (2017-2019)


HONORS & AWARDS

  • Step Up to USDA Career Success Grant (2015)

  • Building Agriculture Science Education Program (2017)

  • USDA IFSEEN Scholarship (2018-2019)


PRESENTATIONS

  • 74th Annual Meeting of the Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society (SAES). “Using Insects to Deliver Nanocides for Therapeutic Treatment for Plants”. Weslaco, TX. February 2020.

  • Entomological Society of America / Acarology Society of America Conference. “Phoretic Dispersal of Brevipalpus Mites on Anastrepha Ludens”. Vancouver, BC, CA. 2018.

  • USDA-NIFA Conference. “Potential Phoretic Association of Brevipalpus Mites with Anastrepha Ludens". Washington, DC. 2018.

  • 72nd Annual Meeting of the Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society (SAES). "Phoretic Association of Brevipalpus Mites with Anastrepha Ludens". Monte Alto, TX. 2018.

  • 71st Annual Meeting of the Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society (SAES). "Potential Phoretic Association of Brevipalpus Mites with Anastrepha Ludens". Weslaco, TX. 2017.

  • UTRGV College of Science Annual Conference. “Zika Virus Infection and Dissemination within South Texas Mosquito Vectors”. Edinburg, TX. 2017.

  • UTRGV Division of Biomedical Science - School of Medicine. “Sindbis Virus Vectors Express Zika Virus NS5 and Elicit Humoral Immunity in vivo”. Edinburg, TX. 2017.

  • UTRGV Division of Biomedical Science - School of Medicine. “Zika Virus Induces the Exposure of Phosphatidylserine as a Consequence of Infection.” Edinburg, TX. 2016.

  • 64th Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America / International Congress of Entomology, Entomological Society of America. “Zika Virus Infection and Dissemination within South Texas Mosquito Vectors”. Orlando, FL. 2016.

  • 70th Annual Meeting of the Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society (SAES). “The Effects of Piercing Holes in Anastrepha Ludens Larvae on DNA Extraction Quantity and Quality”. Weslaco, TX. 2016.