Unraveling the Tick Puzzle
ÃÛÌÒapp researchers contribute to tick science, protect public health
Spark: What research interests or experiences generated the idea for a long-term project focused on tick ecology in west Michigan?
Will Miller: I conducted PhD research with white-tailed deer and wildlife diseases, which got me interested in the connections between wildlife and human health.
The project itself started with a former professor of mine who was building a surveillance network for emerging tick and mosquito-borne diseases in the Great Lakes Region. Basically, she needed somebody to tackle a bunch of deer and pull some ticks off them. I love the idea of wrestling deer, but there’s a far easier way to get ticks than that.
That first summer, student researchers and I discovered there was strong interest in what we were doing, and that eventually led to a collaboration with Michigan State University and Dr. Jean Tsao, who had already been conducting research in this area.
The philosophy that really shapes the project is called the One Health approach, which focuses on understanding the interconnectedness of people, animals, and the environment.
Spark: What is the goal of the project?
Myles Radersma: The original aim of tick surveillance projects like ours was to track the expansion of ticks as they spread up the lakeshore and inland toward Grand Rapids and to understand why that’s happening. That spread is also coinciding geographically with increases in tick-borne diseases.
Will: Surveillance work builds long-term data sets that become a useful frame of reference for other types of scientific questions. Now we’re making deeper investments in community health outreach and education. Ultimately, we want to provide some benefit to the public to help them understand their risk and make educated decisions when they’re outside enjoying the beauty of Michigan’s landscape.
Spark: Have there been any breakthroughs in better understanding population growth or disease spread?
Will: Ticks are common along the lakeshore, but we’ve seen some anomalous trends. For example, many high-density sites are in natural areas along the lake, but we’ve also seen some in urbanized areas. There is growing evidence from our study and others that ticks may be an increasing or previously overlooked concern in more urbanized areas.
More recently, Myles and Jocelyn have started to look at the types of pathogens these ticks are carrying. And it’s not just Lyme disease—the blacklegged tick is also associated with other pathogens of public health interest. Identifying areas where these pathogens may occur and the environmental patterns that lead to their emergence are important aims of their research.
Spark: What methods do you use to collect data?
Jocelyn Nieze: The most common way is called drag sampling, which is essentially dragging a white cloth along the side of a trail and checking it every 20 meters or so. It’s a simple, efficient way to calculate tick population density.
We also do a form of passive surveillance that student researchers introduced a couple of years ago. We call them mice hotels, but the official name is dual-walled insulated nestboxes. When nesting mice preen themselves, ticks fall through the grated floor into a collection tube.
Spark: What roles have students played in the research?
Will: Fourteen students have participated in summer research, with others contributing during the school year. They’ve come from a variety of disciplines: environmental health and conservation, pre-veterinary, pre-med, and public health. The cross-disciplinary nature of what we’re doing gives students opportunities to pursue their own research interests and take the project in new directions.
Myles: You’re not just showing up, doing the work, and leaving, which can happen sometimes in student research. We’re very involved in the scientific process—it’s a perk of being at a small school.
Spark: How does participating in undergraduate student research shape learning?
Will: Research opportunities like this one are really helpful in giving students that competitive edge in their fields. They hone their professional interests and that opens new doors of opportunity for them.
Myles: Originally, I was set on being a doctor, but during my first year at ÃÛÌÒapp I realized I wanted to focus more on molecular biology and infectious diseases. Doing this research has really affirmed my choice to follow that path.
Jocelyn: Since working with Professor Miller, I have developed more of an interest in how zoonotic diseases specifically interact with wildlife and animals. I’m applying to vet school now with the hope of working in that space, and that was definitely inspired by my work the last two summers.
Spark: What are some highlights from summer 2025?
Will: The most significant discovery happened in June when Myles, Jocelyn, and fellow student researcher Telo Onyango collected three longhorned tick nymphs during routine surveillance work—the first detection of the invasive species in Michigan. Longhorned ticks pose a specific risk to livestock, so once we shared our discovery, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development moved quickly to inform the public and develop educational outreach.
Myles: We continued to conduct surveillance of the blacklegged tick populations and diseases associated with this species, like Lyme disease. We worked with experts at several research universities to determine the types of pathogens these ticks carry and how common they are in the population.
Jocelyn: We also built partnerships with veterinarians, agricultural groups, and wildlife professionals to expand surveillance to pets and livestock. Knowing where animals encounter blacklegged ticks helps us track new populations. It was a new idea for the study, so we had to go through the necessary approval processes, and that was a really unique experience, especially learning how to write grant proposals.
Myles: Talking to public health and parks and recreation agencies about public messaging to identify areas of risk for blacklegged ticks as well as being involved in the media outreach for the longhorned tick discovery has been a shift from pure data collection to a push toward community science.
Will: It’s been great for getting the students out there and understanding what applied ecological research looks like.