Meet Our 2026 Tick Study Technicians

As BiodiversityWorks moves ahead with its second season of fieldwork in our study of organic tick sprays, this summer’s project technicians Maija Kastrud and Owen Atkins are playing a critical role in data collection. Maija is studying environmental science with a minor in sustainability at Santa Clara  University. From Marshfield, Massachusetts, she’s developed diverse skills through a number of field biology classes and a recent study-abroad program in Sydney, Australia, where she learned about conservation and the marine  environment. A Vineyard native, Owen holds a degree in biology from UMass/Amherst; among his project there was the creation of 3D models of mammalian skull specimens in Dr. Duncan Irshick’s lab. BiodiversityWorks is grateful for the careful and intelligent fieldwork being carried out by these young biologists, as our organization addresses a problem that is of urgent concern to the entire Martha’s Vineyard community.

Lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum. Photo by Chris Baer

Ticks and tick-borne diseases have long been a problematic on Martha’s Vineyard, and the advent of the lone start tick, Amblyomma americanum, over the last decade or so has only added to the worries. Lone stars flourish in hot, dry environments that other tick species do not tolerate well, so their prevalence here greatly increases the chances that humans will encounter ticks even on sunny, mowed lawns. And in addtion to carrying pathogens, lone star ticks can induce a serious allergy to certain proteins in red meat, a condition called alpha-gal syndrome.

In 2025, responding to many requests from the Vineyard community for guidance on the use of yard-scale spraying to reduce tick numbers, we launched a study to assess the effectiveness of “organic” or “essential oil” sprays, which are widely used on Martha’s Vineyard, and to evaluate the effects those sprays have on non-target arthropods. The study, funded by the New Tudor Foundation and private donations, seeks to produce actionable recommendations for Vineyarders who seek effective responses to tick-related concerns but also want to avoid negative ecological impacts. One round of fieldwork took place in late summer and early fall, 2025; a second round is under way.

Our study is patterned after the Upper Valley Backyard Tick Project, conducted by the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, which surveyed about 200 yards in the Connecticut River Valley in 2023 and 2024. As in the Vermont project, we drag a flannel “tick flag” to sample tick numbers and beat vegetation along the border over a sheet along yard edges. The BiodiversityWorks study added simple pollinator count to the methodology; like the survey of non-target arthropods, this component uses a simplified taxonomic scheme to speed up data collection and avoid labor-intensive identification. Some of our data collectors have also used incidental sightings of interesting arthropods to create observations in the iNaturalist community science platform, further document the biodiversity supported by yards.

We expect fieldwork to finish in late summer, and we plan to release a full report on the project to the Vineyard community by the end of the 2026.