<p>Justin Harbison lowers a long stick with a cup into a stormwater catchbasin to scoop up a sample of sewer water.</p><p>He lifts what he calls his “dipper,” then uses a finger to sift through the murky water.</p><p>“I see some larvae swimming around,” he says.</p><p>Harbison, a Loyola University Chicago researcher and self-described “Sewer Monster,” hopes that a chemical treatment placed in the sewer in June will kill the newly hatched mosquitoes, keeping them from growing into adult biters.</p><p>The insects that everyone hates aren’t just annoying. In Illinois, they can spread the potentially deadly West Nile virus, an illness that sickens thousands of people across the country every year. There have been no human cases reported in Chicago this year, but health officials expect that might change.</p><p>Harbison, who wears his “Sewer Monster” nickname on his shirt, is passionate about protecting public health.</p><p>Maybe it was destiny.