A "Tail" of Two Rodents: Differential tick burdens on small mammal hosts
During the summers of 2018 and 2019, we conducted weekly small mammal trapping in a state-owned gameland north of State College. I found significantly different blacklegged tick burdens by host, with more ticks on white-footed mice than sympatric southern red-backed voles. This work inspired me to ask "what factors are driving this phenomenon?" which ultimately served as a springboard for the rest of my dissertation work
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Investigating connections between host behavior and tick attachment
How do animals defend themselves from parasites? Behavioral responses, such as grooming are thought to have evolved as the "first line of defense" for hosts to protect themselves against ectoparasites. This part of my research aims to determine if variation in behavioral responses among sympatric hosts contributes to an uneven tick burden between species.
"Fool me once...": Comparing acquired tick responses in rodent hosts
In nature, hosts are consistently encountering ticks as they move around the environment. Do their bodies generate an immune response to tick bites? The phenomenon known as "acquired tick resistance" (ATR) has been studied across numerous host species. I am comparing these responses among white-footed mice, meadow voles, and southern-red backed voles--three sympatric hosts commonly found in central Pennsylvania--to determine whether an ATR response contributes to a variation in blacklegged tick burden between species.
Tick Safe: Determining tick risk on college-affiliated field sites in central Pennsylvania
This project was inspired as a foundation to improve tick education for all Penn State students, faculty, staff, and families. We conducted bi-weekly tick dragging for two years, and supplemented our surveillance with trail cameras, weather data, and vegetation surveys. By visiting four different sites in Centre county which are closely associated with the university, we were able to compare the relative "tick risk" to humans at each place.
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