BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Voting and election results weren’t the only things creating a buzz on Aug. 20 in Bradford County as a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to officially open Thermacell’s research center in Hampton.
It was not only Election Day, but World Mosquito Day, which commemorates British doctor Sir Ronald Ross’ discovery in 1897 that female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria to humans. The day is all about raising awareness of mosquito-borne illnesses.
Thermacell produces mosquito-repellent devices. It will now do so with the new research center at 6393 Navarre Ave. in Hampton playing a major part in the process.
“Everything will be tested here at this facility before it makes it to market,” said Jeff Hertz, the formulation science and entomology manager of the new research center.
John Hainze, who was Thermacell’s previous vice president of science and research, said the company was looking to open a research center near Gainesville because of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service lab as well as the University of Florida. Hainze said both have “really great mosquito programs.”
The company looked in Gainesville and Ocala for a site before coming across the property in Hampton. Hainze, who is no longer with Thermacell and who now teaches at Seattle University, said Thermacell received a warm welcome in Hampton as well as a site that suited its needs — especially the 11 acres that allow for plenty of room in creating outdoor testing sites.
“In addition to everything else, what was attractive to us was it came with a wooded area full of mosquitoes in the back,” Hainze said, adding, “It actually is a perfect piece of property for us.”
The building is the former Hampton Baptist Church, which consisted of living quarters as well as the church sanctuary, classrooms and offices.
Hertz said the transformation of the building has been impressive, giving kudos to local contractor Kelly Moulton.
“I don’t think Kelly’s even realized what he’s built yet, but it is world class,” Hertz said.
Hainze said, “We got bids from multiple contractors, including a couple of big ones from Gainesville. Just the idea of being able to work with somebody local who employs local people made a huge difference. It made us feel like a part of the community.”
Indoors
The building is 12,000 square feet. Hertz said it’s more room than is needed at the moment for a facility that will consist of just five employees, but he believes having the space could lead to future uses the company hasn’t even imagined yet.
“You ever have that thing you didn’t know you needed, but now you realize you can’t live without it? We think that’s what this building is,” Hertz said.
Besides a conference room and various offices, the building will have an insectary, which will contain between 40,000 and 60,000 mosquitoes. The insectary is kept warm and humid and has lights that operate on timers to
mimic sunrises and sunsets.
Insectary racks will hold trays that contain larvae. Rabbit food in the form of pellets is ground up and sprinkled in the trays like fish food.
Because the larvae live in water, a filtration system is used to remove the chlorine the city adds to its water supply.
“The city wants to make safe water that things don’t grow in, but we want water that things grow in,” Hertz said.
Additional racks hold cages of varying sizes in which adult mosquitoes are kept. Smaller cages contain females only. Female mosquitoes are the ones that bite humans and feed on blood, which they use to produce eggs.
The female mosquitoes in the insectary will feed on blood that comes in discs.
“We are purchasing blood from a lab. Nothing weird going on in here,” Hertz said with a laugh.
The building also has an entomology lab named after Hainze and a restricted-access administrative room in which all data and studies stored. Hertz said records of a product’s safety and effectiveness must be kept until that particular product is no longer sold.
“At any time, the (Environmental Protection Agency) could walk through the door and say that they want to look at our records. This room is critical,” Hertz said.
The utilization of some space has yet to be determined. The hallway between the former church’s entrance and sanctuary has room on either side to create, as Hertz described it, “two giant chambers.” Or each giant chamber could be divided into two 13’x20’ chambers.
“I would venture to guess that not many labs have this type of space available like we have,” Hertz said.
Hertz termed the area that used to be the church sanctuary the “grand room,” an area that could allow Thermacell to host events.
One key component of the building that might not be considered essential by some is a shower. Hertz said it’s a good thing to have since he and his colleagues will be spending a lot of time outside “getting pretty funky in the Florida heat.”
Outdoors
Becky Heinig, senior scientist-entomology programs, said the center’s most-controlled testing environment is indoors, where scientists can control such factors as temperature, light and wind, while also knowing specifically the number of mosquitoes they’re working with during any given test.
Taking tests outdoors, though, is an important part of the work.
“Our next step is putting in a slightly more realistic environment,” Heinig said. “Something that’s sort of like your backyard, but where we have a little bit more control so that we can pick out what’s happening more clearly.”
The grounds of the center feature a number of what are called semi-plots, which are 40’x60’ areas that are enclosed by screening. Heinig described the semi-plots as much larger versions of the mosquito cages used inside the center.
Heinig said she and her fellow scientists can release mosquitoes inside the semi-plots and test how well a repellent device works.
“Once we’re done with the experiment, we can take out all the mosquitoes and look at our data,” Heinig said.
Though indoor testing offers more control, Hertz said the environments of the semi-plots can be altered, such as with the addition of plants and the use of fans for wind conditions.
While giving a tour of the grounds, Hertz pointed to a couple of lizards on the outside of a screen covering one of the semi-plots. He said efforts will have to be made to keep the semi-plots free of lizards and other animals.
The enclosed areas containing mosquitoes are like all-you-can-eat buffets for several animals, Heinig said, with Hertz adding, “Everybody likes mosquitoes but humans. We’ll have to figure out how to keep these (animals) out as much as possible.”
Besides semi-plots, the outside grounds also consist of field plots, which aren’t enclosed, but do have wind barriers. Field plots are meant to represent backyard conditions.
“When we are ready to take a product to market and get it registered legally with the EPA, we will bring it out here (to a field plot) and test it,” Heinig said.
Traps will be used on field plots to collect mosquitoes. They’ll emit carbon dioxide to mimic a person exhaling, drawing mosquitoes to the traps. Heinig said, “Your mosquitoes will come in and say, ‘Oh, a tasty human.’”
Thermacell studies can first determine how many mosquitoes would be drawn to the field-plot “humans.” Then, a repellent device can be used to test its effectiveness.
Heinig said EPA standards are for a device to repel at least 75 percent of the mosquitoes that could potentially bite a person in a given area.
“Our products typically exceed the minimum of the EPA,” she said.
Thermacell will use a variety of traps manufactured by Biogents. Heinig said the “workhorse” will be the BG-Sentinel, which uses a fan to draw mosquitoes into a collection bag.
BG-Counter traps do as the name suggests — they count mosquitoes as they become trapped.
“It will report the number of mosquitoes that have gone into the trap in 15-minute intervals for as long as we want,” Heinig said.
The counter-trap numbers can be viewed remotely via a website.
A rotator trap will also be used. It collects mosquitoes in bottles so that scientists can see which species are showing up. It can be programmed to attract mosquitoes during specific time intervals so it can be determined what times of day certain species are more likely to be present.
Thermacell’s ‘beating heart’
Thermacell CEO Christian Gradlmuller was present at the Aug. 20 ribbon-cutting ceremony. In his brief remarks, he said Thermacell would continue to invest in the Hampton facility, describing it as “kind of the beating heart of the company.”
“This is a long-term commitment from us, and it is a commitment to our consumers, customers and the communities that we operate in,” Gradlmuller said.
Fernando Castro, Thermacell vice president of research, development and engineering, said Thermacell is composed of two teams — the engineering team, which is based in Boston, and the science team, which is now based in Hampton.
“This facility is going to enable us to do better and more testing, allowing us to understand our products better and to make better products for our consumers,” Castro said.
Hertz said those who have met him since he’s been in Bradford County know he is passionate about Thermacell and its prodcuts.
With the company’s Hampton research center, Hertz hopes that passion will spread.
“It’s a sense of pride for me,” he said. “Hopefully, it is for you in the community, too.”
