Your role

As a medical entomologist you'll help protect communities from insect borne diseases.

You’ll study insects – mainly mosquitoes – and other disease carrying bugs (arthropods) that spread illnesses to people and animals.

What you’ll do

In your role, you'll:

  • give advice on diseases spread by insects and bugs
  • work with local governments to manage mosquito borne diseases, stop them from spreading, and respond to outbreaks
  • lead programs to monitor and track diseases spread by mosquitoes
  • develop new ways to track and control mosquitoes
  • lead and work with others to stop the spread of exotic mosquito borne diseases.
Hear from John about his work as a medical entomologist.
Duration: 00:00:51

Come with me to collect and test some mosquitoes.

Hi, I'm John, a medical entomologist. Here I am in Brisbane.

This park is in the middle of suburbia, but there's plenty of mosquitoes around, easily 10 or more species in this area alone.

Some species found here carry viruses like Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses.

We set up the trap the night before and come back first thing before it gets too hot, and we've caught plenty!

I packed down the trap and completely remove it from the area.

Now I've got the goods, I bring it back to my car with me and head back to the workshop.

Welcome to the workshop.

First, we put the mosquitoes in the freezer for about an hour.

A few moments later…

We identify the species and count them.

If we want to test them for viruses, this is where we would take them to the diagnostic lab.

This surveillance programme is all about monitoring what disease-causing viruses mosquitoes are carrying in our communities to keep everyone safe.

Thanks for watching. Bye.

Qualifications

To become a medical entomologist and work in Queensland Health, you’ll need either:

  • a university qualification in science, agricultural science, or applied science with a major in medical entomology
  • postgraduate qualifications in mosquito biology and control.

Wages

Your pay will depend on your (health practitioner) classification and employment status. Read our current health practitioner wage rates.

Alternative career pathways

In some locations, there may be different opportunities and pathways you can take to work in medical entomology in Queensland Health. Public health units may employ vector control officers to support the role of medical entomologists in hospital and health services.

Read more about technical, administrative and other supporting roles in public health.

How to apply

We advertise all our jobs on the Queensland Government SmartJobs website. We also have information about the application process.

Last updated: April 2025

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