{"id":21331,"date":"2021-12-20T14:54:44","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T14:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/?p=21331"},"modified":"2023-06-08T18:23:02","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T18:23:02","slug":"buzz-on-camilo-acosta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta","title":{"rendered":"The buzz on Camilo Acosta"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Alumnus Camilo Acosta ’19 with beloved insects<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Becoming an entomologist wasn\u2019t a childhood dream for University of Washington Bothell Camilo Acosta \u201919, nor was it a single, dramatic event that piqued his interest in insects. Instead, he described it as \u201ca culmination of small events like spending summer afternoons feeding sugar water to exhausted honeybees or admiring iridescent, green jewel beetles while pulling weeds.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acosta said he has always been fascinated with insects, which as a child, he thought was normal. As an adult, he says, \u201cI now realize that I have a deeper passion than most.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Acosta\u2019s career path was not always clear to him, it certainly may have been to his mother who was constantly missing her kitchen supplies. \u201cWhen I was young, I was super into enslaving poor animals in jars and other kitchen containers,\u201d he said. \u201cMy mom was always yelling at me for taking her Tupperware and using it as makeshift homes for salamanders and snakes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigating insects <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now a graduate from the School of STEM, Acosta works for the Washington State Department of Agriculture as a pest biologist where it\u2019s all insects, all the time. Currently, he is acting as the Japanese beetle eradication coordinator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acosta said the Japanese beetle is an invasive insect that is \u201cincredibly destructive\u201d to different crops and home gardens. \u201cIt is a generalist and will eat more than 300 different kinds of plants,\u201d he said. \u201cFinding even one should put you on high alert.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The beetle has been in the United States for more than a century. It was initially found in New Jersey and has since spread to other states. Acosta said it can hitchhike onto airplanes, which is one way it could have made its way to Washington state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWSDA has trapping programs in place around Seattle-Tacoma International Airport,\u201d Acosta said. \u201cThey catch a few every year but even so, the beetle has managed to make its way to Grandview, Washington.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damage control <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The problem-inducing Japanese beetle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yakima County is home to many farmers who make a living selling crops, including apples, grapes and hops. If the beetles take over their orchards, it can put the farmers out of business. \u201cJust this past summer, we caught more than 24,000 of them in Grandview alone,\u201d Acosta said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He and his colleagues are devising a sweeping plan to eradicate the insect across the state. In the meantime, they are proposing an internal quarantine. \u201cTypically, after people mow their lawns or trim their hedges, they take the waste to a landfill or transfer station. That can\u2019t happen anymore because they could unknowingly transport beetles, eggs and larvae,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acosta also pointed out that many farmers sell bouquets of flowers at local markets, but with an internal quarantine, this would no longer be permitted. Acknowledging the financial impact this would have, he and his colleagues wrote and distributed a survey of small businesses to understand potential economic impacts. Once they compile the results, they hope to plan ways to mitigate losses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To students at UW Bothell Acosta said, \u201cDon\u2019t neglect your writing abilities. It is a significant part of my job now. I didn\u2019t think I would ever have an office job where I would write contracts, environmental checklists and response plans, but here I am doing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven if your dream is to do fieldwork, don\u2019t underestimate the value and importance of learning to write efficiently.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put into practice <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Acosta\u2019s time at UW Bothell prepared him for this position in other ways, too. He first started studying beetles as an undergraduate in the wetlands with Dr. Michele Price, assistant teaching professor in the School of STEM. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCamilo was an amazing student who jumped into opportunities outside the classroom right away,\u201d Price said. \u201cHe is an example to current students of the incredible career opportunities available in state and federal governments. Through his work, he is helping the well-being of hundreds of farmers, as well as their communities.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acosta\u2019s research into beetles began in 2016 as an independent project in which he examined the diversity of ground beetle in the restored wetlands on campus. He said that Price taught him the skills he needed to succeed as scientist, such as \u201cformulating critical questions and hypotheses, analyzing primary literature and learning about insect field collection protocols as well as how to identify specimens using taxonomic keys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI apply much of what she taught me all those years ago to the work that I am doing now,\u201d he said. \u201cIn a way, that was the start of my career.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alumnus Camilo Acosta has an important job as the Japanese beetle eradication coordinator in Washington state, helping to catch the insects — which devour more than 300 different plant species — by the thousands. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[209,202,200],"tags":[],"school":[421],"class_list":["post-21331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni","category-campus-news","category-profiles","school-school-of-stem"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"Contact Us","email":"test@uwb.edu","phone":"(206) 999-1234","box":"Box 358500","address_line_1":"18115 Campus Way NE","address_line_2":"Bothell, WA 98011-8246","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\nThe buzz on Camilo Acosta - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The buzz on Camilo Acosta - News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alumnus Camilo Acosta has an important job as the Japanese beetle eradication coordinator in Washington state, helping to catch the insects — which devour more than 300 different plant species — by the thousands.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-20T14:54:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-08T18:23:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/05\/acosta.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"The buzz on Camilo Acosta\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-20T14:54:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-08T18:23:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta\"},\"wordCount\":767,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/05\/acosta.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni\",\"Campus News\",\"Profiles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta\",\"name\":\"The buzz on Camilo Acosta - News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/05\/acosta.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-20T14:54:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-08T18:23:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/05\/acosta.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/05\/acosta.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":225},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The buzz on Camilo Acosta\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"News\",\"description\":\"Just another UW Bothell site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/author\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The buzz on Camilo Acosta - News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The buzz on Camilo Acosta - News","og_description":"Alumnus Camilo Acosta has an important job as the Japanese beetle eradication coordinator in Washington state, helping to catch the insects — which devour more than 300 different plant species — by the thousands.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta","og_site_name":"News","article_published_time":"2021-12-20T14:54:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-08T18:23:02+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/05\/acosta.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"The buzz on Camilo Acosta","datePublished":"2021-12-20T14:54:44+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-08T18:23:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta"},"wordCount":767,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/05\/acosta.jpg","articleSection":["Alumni","Campus News","Profiles"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta","url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta","name":"The buzz on Camilo Acosta - News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/05\/acosta.jpg","datePublished":"2021-12-20T14:54:44+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-08T18:23:02+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/05\/acosta.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/05\/acosta.jpg","width":300,"height":225},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/20\/buzz-on-camilo-acosta#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The buzz on Camilo Acosta"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/","name":"News","description":"Just another UW Bothell site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/author"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21331"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28957,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21331\/revisions\/28957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21331"},{"taxonomy":"school","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/school?post=21331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}