Over a two period, ticks undergo a series of changes as they emerge from eggs, seek out a blood meal from mice or larger animals, and mature from from larvae to nymph and adult. They typically go dormant for a single winter, but he noted that they have the ability to survive a second freeze if the need arises.

“You’re getting two overwintering periods for each tick cohort. So its really complex, and its really efficient when you see how successful this parasite has been in nature.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Calder Center, we sat down with Pool to learn more about his research there.

Thomas Daniels, Ph.D., director of the center, said the research being conducted in labs there is more important than ever, as every major problem we face today has a biological basis at some point.

“When we talk about global warming, it means forests are changing, vector-borne diseases are coming into places they’ve never been before, world hunger is becoming an issue as our population size is likely to outstrip carrying capacity, and landscapes are going to change with rising sea levels.” he said.

“So if we don’t have people at ground level making good decisions, going to meetings to talk about the value of conservation, and understanding the fact that climate change is a function of human activity, then it’s going to lead to further and further hardship down the road. That’s the value of having an educated populace. Certainly Fordham sees that, and we see it here at Calder.”