Gary Mullen is Professor of Entomology emeritus in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Auburn University, AL, USA. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in entomology at Cornell University before serving as medical entomologist and administrator of the Pennsylvania Vector Control Program, Allegheny County Health Department, Pittsburgh, PA. He joined the faculty of Auburn University in 1975 as a medical-veterinary entomologist, acarologist, and aquatic ecologist, teaching courses and conducting research at Auburn for 34 years. His major areas of research have focused on biting flies, notably mosquitoes and biting midges, and ticks as vectors of animal pathogens
Lance Durden is Professor of Vector Ecology and Curator of the Insect Collection in the Department of Biology at Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, USA. He earned a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of London, UK and has worked at Vanderbilt School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, Auburn University in Alabama, and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Frederick, Maryland. He is the author or co-author of approximately 300 peer-reviewed publications including 24 book chapters and 7 books or monographs. His research focuses on ectoparasitic arthropods and vector-borne diseases.