Tick Academy

Please join the Tick IPM Working Group for the third annual Tick Academy! The Tick Academy is the premier event for researchers, educators, students, public health professionals, pest control professionals, public-space managers and citizen scientists interested in learning more about what they can do to stop the spread of ticks and tickborne diseases in their communities. This in-person event will feature time in the field collecting ticks followed by hands-on tick identification in a lab setting.

Agenda:

9:00 AM       Welcome, Leah McSherry

9:05 AM       Introduction to tick collection methods, Scott Larson PhD

9:30 AM       Transport to Field Site

10:00 AM    Field demonstration of tick collection and tick control methods, Scott Larson PhD

Site Selection

Setting up study area or transect

Tick dragging to collect questing ticks

Set-up of Tick Tubes/ Tick control systems (bait boxes)

Discussion of tick collection from animal hosts

Data Collection and recording and sample preservation

Noon             Lunch (provided)

1:00 PM       Lecture:  How to set up a tick surveillance program, Jon Oliver, PhD

1:30 PM       Lecture:  Tick-borne Diseases, Jon Oliver, PhD

2:00 PM       Laboratory Techniques:  Tick identification using a microscope, Scott Larson, PhD

3:00 PM       Discussion:  Resources for pathogen testing

3:15 PM       Question and Answer Period

3:45 PM       Closing

Presenters:

Scott Larson, PhD, Assistant Entomologist, Metropolitan Mosquito Control District

Scott Larson received his PhD in Entomology from UW-Madison where he studied ticks and tick-borne diseases in the forests of northern Wisconsin. He was hired as a postdoc for the Midwest Center of Excellence for Vector-borne Disease where he researched tick control strategies for homeowners.

John Oliver, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota

John Oliver is a public health entomologist specializing in vector-borne diseases. His research expertise lies primarily in the relationship between ticks and emerging tick-borne pathogens relevant to human health.

Click here to register.