Dr. Conn has had formal training in systematics, entomology and population genetics, and informal training in mosquito ecology. Her research aims to broaden and deepen the field of vector biology by combining and integrating these disciplines to be of practical value in moving the field of malaria eradication forward.

This integrated approach has advanced our understanding about the relative roles in pathogen transmission of anopheline species complex members, species boundaries, population structure and replacement, and the increasing effects of landscape modification on malaria transmission in the Neotropics. Specifically, outcomes from her extensive fieldwork in Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Panama, and Colombia demonstrate the need for an increased focus on the quantification of entomological parameters locally, and on the underlying broad-scale ecological processes, together with local adaptation, that influence malaria transmission.

This is especially urgent because the primary Neotropical malaria vector, Nyssorhynchus (AKA Anopheles) darlingi, is extremely plastic with regard to feeding location, blood meal host, and biting time that could influence vectorial capacity and impact human-mosquito interactions. She and collaborators have demonstrated that LLINs and IRS alone are insufficient to eliminate malaria in this region.

Her 100+ publications provide essential baseline data in support of malaria control operations by understanding the genetic, ecological and environmental processes that facilitate local and regional malaria transmission.