Hometown Hero - Dave Geske
This week’s Hometown Hero is Dave Geske of West Salem.
As vector control manager for La Crosse County, Dave works to control the Aedes triseriatus mosquito that carries a strain of La Crosse encephalitis.
While most of us just throw on some bug spray and call it good, Dave is the one working to ensure that those little pests do not infect us with deadly diseases. He works to educate the public on the dangers of this particular type of mosquito and manages a program that eliminates breeding areas. Despite the fact that he spends his days around the bugs that most of us would rather shoot first and ask questions later, Dave really likes his work. He says that “the wonderful thing about this job is when everyone wants to be outside, I get to be.”
As vector control manager, Dave tracks the bugs that can carry life-threatening illnesses. He likens his job to that of a detective who has to figure out first how viruses like West Nile and La Crosse encephalitis move from four –legged creatures to us bipedal folk. Then Dave must work to break the chain of mutations to figure out how to prevent the spread of these viruses. He says that he finds his work “so captivating. I find it so much fun.” Dave is also a fan of another type of detective, that is the sort that populate British mystery novels.
In addition to La Crosse County, his program to stop the spread of this disease includes Monroe, Vernon, Crawford, Lafayette, Trempealeau, Jackson, Pierce, St. Croix and Dunn counties in Wisconsin, Houston and Winona counties in Minnesota and the Ho-Chunk Nation. So really, Dave is a Hometown Hero for not just the 94th Assembly District but for all of Western Wisconsin.
One of the things that inspires Dave to keep working is the memory of Dawn Lyn Torgenson, a three year old girl from rural De Soto who died from encephalitis. Torgenson died during Dave’s first year on the job, when six counties had 50 cases of the disease. The death of this little girl and the training video made that includes footage of her condition worsening helped turn the vector control into the successful system it is today. As Dave puts it, “to lose her, see the effects on her family… it was just devastating.” He remains committed to working to that he can “stop people from going through what that girl went through.”
Dave grew up in the Galesville area, graduating from Gale-Ettrick before studying vector ecology at the University of South Carolina. He came back to the area in the late 70s to work for the county in vector control. One of the things that attracted him to La Crosse position was the emphasis on science. The key individuals who he worked with to establish the program were Cam Gundersen, James Perry, PHD who Dave says “truly educated me over 20 years of tireless work to develop the program to control vector-borne disease in our region,” and Robert Carroll, “perhaps the truly kindest person I have ever known,” a La Crosse County Board member. Dave says that these three men who he admires greatly were the key to the success of the program, not just himself. With the exception of his parents, Dave notes that “no individuals had a greater influence on my life that James Parry and Robert ‘Kootch’ Carroll.”
After almost 36 years, Dave isn’t ready to retire just yet. He says he still gets energized from the continuous influx of new students who work with his department each year. He says that they are all brilliant kids and, he admits, “could replace me in a second.”
As the father of two grown daughters and four grandchildren, Dave admits he is often tempted to think about retirement. He says that his 5 year old granddaughter is a “spider girl” who shares his love of insects and arachnids. When the two go walking together, she is always quick to point out the ants on the sidewalk and makes sure her grandfather does not step on them.
So if you get a bug bite this Fourth of July weekend and are now convinced that you have La Crosse encephalitis, don’t panic. Just check out this handy pamphlet that Dave put together: http://www.co.la-crosse.wi.us/Health/Vector/docs/LAXEnceph.pdf. And chances are, with Dave’s great work bringing the annual average number of encephalitis cases down from 27 in the late 70s to four or five now, you’re just suffering the normal effects of a visit from our unofficial state insect.
Congratulations to you, Dave. Keep up the good work and continue to be a Hometown Hero.
Hometown Hero is a weekly feature put together by Rep. Steve Doyle (D-Onalaska). If you have any suggestions of a Hometown Hero, send a short description of why you think this person should be a Hometown Hero and contact information of both you and the nominee to rep.doyle@legis.wisconsin.gov.