It’s no secret that DC has its fair share of unwanted guests. And no, we aren’t referring to the members of Congress who don’t share your party affiliation. Unfortunately, we’re talking about rats, and GW is no exception.

That said, we’ve made tremendous progress in getting this scourge under control since their explosive growth during the pandemic, and no one has done more to take these furry menaces on than Nancy Balph. The Christian Science Monitor recently caught up with her to chronical her adventures in pest control.

Nancy enlisted the help of experts to come up with advanced strategies that have helped cut down on the rodent population, including Kevlar door seals, rat-proof geomesh, and Bigbelly trash cans. As she points out, this isn’t a simple problem with a straight-forward, one-size-fits-all approach. “It’s not Joe Schmoe with his spray gun and traps,” she says.

Nancy isn’t going to win this battle on her own, but progress is a victory in and of itself. “Did we eradicate rats from the GW campus?” she asks rhetorically. “No… We are managing them very well though.”

We appreciate you, Nancy. Congress is next.