Nathan Nieto’s lab at Northern Arizona University conducted a tick study in 2016 using citizen science participation to collect 16,080 ticks from 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico.
After receiving the ticks, the research team identified them and tested them for four tick-born pathogens, including Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.
A goal of the study was to show how citizens can help clarify the ambiguity between incidence and risk, documenting human and animal exposure to ticks.