Newswise — Dr. Solny Adalsteinsson is a wildlife ecologist and staff scientist at Tyson Research Center, the environmental field station for Washington University in St. Louis. Adalsteinsson develops, coordinates and conducts research to support and expand long-term environmental studies at Tyson. Her research interests include tick-borne disease ecology, urban wildlife ecology and human impacts on zoonotic disease systems.
Adalsteinsson is the corresponding author of a March 2018 research study in the Journal of Medical Entomology about how landscape topography affects the abundance of host-seeking lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum).
“Ticks generally need a high-humidity environment with stable temperatures,” Adalsteinsson said.
“Most of the time they are just trying to survive in between feedings—and that can be a long period of time,” she said, noting that ticks live for about two years but feed only two or three times.
“Our recent study in the Missouri Ozarks demonstrates that land managers may be able to predict local lone star tick abundance through simple landscape features—like aspect, elevation, slope—and use these parameters for targeted management action. Potential control measures for ticks include prescribed fire or acaricide treatments,” Adalsteinsson said.
Lone star ticks, American dog ticks, and deer ticks (sometimes called blacklegged ticks) are all commonly found in Missouri. Ticks that spread Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis, and tularemia are found in Missouri; Lyme disease is not currently considered a threat in Missouri. Adalsteinsson conducted her doctoral studies on ticks in Delaware, a state that has one of the nation’s highest rates of Lyme disease per capita. Adalsteinsson is not a medical expert and does not study tick-borne disease in humans—instead, she studies the ecology of ticks and tick-borne pathogens.
View a sample of an interview with Adalsteinsson.
Adalsteinsson can be reached by phone at (314) 935-8437 or by email at [email protected].
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