About This Project

Join us as we develop a community partnership with Bay Area community biology labs to collect and test ticks for pathogens. We aim to measure tick abundance and pathogen diversity. Our hypothesis is that “border regions” harbor greater tick density and seasonality than other parts of the urban-rural gradient. Together, we will support local public health monitoring and empower community scientists with hands-on skills in fieldwork and biodiversity monitoring.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, are becoming increasingly common in the Bay Area [1, 2], but there is limited ecological research on their vectors, including Ixodes pacificus and Dermacentor occidentalis. This leaves substantial regional knowledge gaps about local tick populations and their pathogens. As public concern about tick-borne disease risk grows, there’s an urgent need for more research that is locally relevant and community driven.

Through this project, we will investigate how tick and pathogen diversity vary along the Bay Area’s urban-rural gradient, and whether community-based sampling can reveal patterns of tick distribution and disease risk that traditional surveillance may miss. By partnering with community bio labs, we aim to strengthen local biodiversity and public health monitoring capacity and generate new ecological insights into the factors shaping tick-borne disease risk in our region.

What is the significance of this project?

There is currently very little public engagement in tick surveys, despite significant local interest. Through this project, we expect to generate new, open-access data on tick and pathogen diversity across the Bay Area’s urban-rural gradient, develop accessible protocols for community sampling and pathogen testing, and build a lasting network of trained community biologists. These immediate outcomes will directly contribute to public datasets and tools that can be used for future research and tick-borne disease prevention efforts. By collaborating with community members, we will be able to answer key ecological and public health questions, such as where tick risks are highest and how tick and pathogen diversity vary with land use, while supporting broader community involvement in research that meets local needs while applying and refining standardized protocols for sampling and deposition [1, 2].

What are the goals of the project?

The goals of this project are to build strong connections among local public health efforts, community biologists, and ecologists working on tick ecology in the Bay Area; to develop and share survey tools for tick flagging and dragging and leaf litter collection, along with best practices and materials for safe and effective fieldwork; and to carry out surveys (at community-determined sites), voucher specimens, and coordinate the shipment of tick samples, while building resources for ongoing collection and CalATBI deposition from community biology labs. In addition, we aim to develop and validate a protocol for PCR and/or LAMP-based testing of collected ticks for tick-borne diseases, ensuring that community scientists are equipped to contribute to both data generation and public health monitoring. Finally, we will enable broad and direct distribution of both tools and information for reducing the impact of tick-borne disease through development of accessible, ongoing resources.