Who got bit? By mailing in 16,000 ticks, citizen scientists help track disease exposures

A bite from a disease-carrying tick can transmit a serious, potentially fatal infection, such as Lyme disease. But many ticks go unnoticed and unreported. Now, with the help of citizen scientists, ecologists are offering better insight into people’s and animals’ potential exposure to tick-borne diseases — not just the disease reporting and prevalence that’s only tracked when people get sick.