Jerry Sellers, ME’69

Six years ago, after he retired, Jerry Sellers, ME’69, got into the mosquito business. “I needed something to occupy my time,” says the president and owner of MosquitoZone.

With his wife, Maura, Sellers started the business that caters to industries that deploy workers to places where malaria and other diseases and hazards are common, such as Africa (particularly in Chad) and New Guinea.

MosquitoZone goes to these developing countries to scout potential hazards and then establish procedures for protecting people who will be (or already are) working on a particular site. A team of entomologists is employed to study mosquitoes and “vector-borne tropical diseases,” which are transmitted by insects. The company also provides advice about avoiding snakebites and poisonous plants.

Before starting MosquitoZone with his wife, Sellers worked for Conoco for 13 years and then did software work. He ended up getting involved in the mosquito field by accident because “no one else was doing it.”

The company has many clients in the oil and gas business, as well as government agencies. In addition to helping prevent diseases and possible fatalities, MosquitoZone tries to ensure decreases in lost worker productivity.

Sellers and his wife live in Houston, where MosquitoZone is based.