David F. Hoel, PhD

Lee County Mosquito Control District – Malaria Update

Dr. David Hoel was born and raised in Columbia, S.C., attended high school in Oklahoma and served 3 years in the Army as an ammunition specialist. Afterwards, David attended Texas A&M University, graduating in 1986 with a B.S. in entomology and later with an M.S. in 1993 with a specialization in mosquito biology. In 1994 he received a commission as a Medical Service Corps Officer in the U.S. Navy, serving as a Medical Entomologist from 1994 to 2017. He deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and served for 2 years as an entomology researcher and department head of the Vector Biology Research Program at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center #3 in Cairo, Egypt. He completed a PhD at the University of Florida in 2005 studying the bionomics of Aedes albopictus while on active duty. Other Naval assignments included assistant professor at the Uniformed Services University (Bethesda, MD), Navy researcher and liaison officer with the CDC (Atlanta) and also in the same capacity with the USDA’s Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, FL. While working with the CDC, David served as the county entomologist for the President’s Malaria Initiative in Uganda, Nigeria and Liberia.

Immediately after retiring from the Navy, David accepted an Assistant Director position at the Lee County Mosquito Control District. Upon the Director’s retirement in December 2018, David interviewed for and was hired, serving as the 4th Director of LCMCD since its inception in 1958.

David and Joyce have been married for 28 years and have two children, Michael and Caroline.