Biology
Professor Tom Simmons presented a poster on “Forest fragmentation, deer
density, and Lyme disease risk in the Allegheny National Forest: A small mammal
perspective” at the Integrated Tick Management Symposium: Solving America’s Tick-Borne Disease
Problem, held from May 16 to 17 in Washington, D.C.
Simmons’ coauthors were Kacie Chern, Meaghan Bird, and Jane Huffman from East
Stroudsburg University; William Gerardi, Sara McBride, and Joe Duchamp from
IUP; and Alex Royo from the USDA Forest Service.
The Symposium was hosted by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, the Entomological Society of America, and the North Central Integrated
Pest Management Center and was attended by more than 150 individuals from academic
institutions, government agencies, industry, and nonprofit organizations.
After the symposium, Simmons visited the offices of
Representative Bill Shuster and Senator Bob Casey to advocate for more research
and development funding to address the tick and tick-borne disease problem,
especially for surveillance, control, and prevention.
In addition to Simmons (front row, second from right), the
Capital Hill contingency included (back row, left to right) Amanda Cline (U.S.
Army), Holly Gaff (Old Dominion University), May Berrenbaum (University of
Illinois), Saravanan Thangamani (University of Texas), Charles Lubelcyzk (Maine
Medical Center Research Institute), Kirby Stafford (Connecticut Agricultural
Experiment Station), Robert Maurais (Mainely Ticks), and (front row left to
right) Rebecca Trout Fryxell (University of Tennessee), Graham Hickling
(University of Tennessee), Thomas Mather (University of Rhode Island), and Jean
Tsao (Michigan State University).
Department of Biology