It’s not every day that you’re disappointed by not finding a tick.
Students in the University of Lynchburg Master of Public Health program recently went “tick dragging,” an activity that uses a cloth to pick up ticks that are hiding in vegetation. They are studying tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, as a part of a class taught by Dr. Jennifer Hall.
The students walked trails on the University’s campus and dragged the cloth on the ground beside the trail. Then they searched the cloth for the small parasites.
The activity failed to turn up any ticks, but this isn’t the end of their research. Hall hopes to continue the research in other outdoor areas in the region and gather data about what kinds of ticks are prevalent so people in the region can be more informed. Hall recently received a grant from the University of Lynchburg Faculty Development Fund to continue the research.
The News & Advance wrote about the students’ research. Read that article here.