Hans Jørgen Overgaard

The focus of my research is entomological risk factors for malaria and dengue fever; and how climate and global change processes affect vector-borne diseases. 

I graduated from the Agricultural University of Norway in 1993 with a Cand. Agric. degree in Forestry – Silviculture. I spent one year at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University in 1994-1995 studying medical entomology, forest and environmental topics, and research methods. In 1996, the Research Council of Norway supported my PhD funding application for malaria mosquito research in northern Thailand. I completed the PhD in Entomology from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in 2001. Thereafter, I have been involved in various research projects on vector biology and control, insecticide resistance, integrated pest and vector management, and forest insects. In 2009, I functioned as the Medical Entomology Officer in the Bioko Island Malaria Control Project in Equatorial Guinea, employed by the Medical Care Development International. The duties included vector control monitoring, insecticide resistance monitoring, evaluation and quality assurance, distribution of mosquito nets, management of entomological laboratory, and technical and operational support of the program.

Since 2007 until now, I have been a research scientist and project leader at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences leading various project on malaria and dengue mosquito vector control, durability of bednets, and insecticide resistance. During 2014-2016, I was a research scientist at the Institut de recherche pour le developpement (IRD), based at Kasetsart University, Thailand. I am currently a Visiting Professor at Department of Microbiology, Faulty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Thailand, where I am involved in project management and development, teaching, and student supervision.

I have worked most of my professional life on vector-borne research projects in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand and Laos. I have also experience from malaria vector control and research on water related diseases in Africa and South America. Currently, I am leading dengue mosquito control projects in Thailand and Laos.

I am interested in development from a perspective of global change effects on sustainable development, livelihoods, poverty, and human health; and the interface between natural resource management and human health issues, particularly, but not exclusively, vector-borne diseases. I am also interested in human history, evolution, consciousness, morality, development of science and scientific knowledge, evolution of religion, and more.

Here is a link to some of my projects: http://www.nmbu.no/water 

My citations at Google Scholar.