Developing an Ecosystems Level Grazed Pasture IPM Assessment Tool

The goal of this project is to first understand Tick Risk on cattle pastures in the Northeast, and then develop a comprehensive GP-IPM assessment tool.

Objective 1: Cattle Pasture Tick Risk – Identify which species of tick are prevalent on cattle pastures and associated animal and human health risks. Report invasive Asian Longhorned Tick presence or absence and investigate how tick populations are influenced by cattle grazing management.

Between April-November 2025 biweekly sampling will be carried out on each farm, to allow tick populations and associations between climate, habitat, and grazing management to be determined.

Roles and responsibilities

During the late spring through summer, the student intern will conduct tick sampling on 10 grazing farms within the Hudson Valley. Each farm will be visited every other week. Ticks will be collected from the environment by blanket dragging using white cloth sheets that are dragged slowly across the vegetation and turned over every 5 m to remove and collect ticks. Vegetation and climatic data, and grazing sward height will be measured at each collection. Ticks will be identified in the laboratory. Ways to improve tick surveillance will be explored to increase the likelihood that farmers will conduct surveys themselves.

Qualifications and previous coursework

This opportunity is available to non-graduating students in Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

• This project may be of special interest to students in animal sciences, entomology, or veterinary, however, it is open to any student interested in one health issues and is willing to spend the summer outdoors and around cattle
• The selected intern will be required to drive on behalf of the summer project and must have reliable transportation

Learning outcomes  

The student will be involved in the first year of a two-year project and exposed to the translation of a research proposal into the realities of field research. The student will also learn:

• detailed knowledge of tick biology
• experience in field collection and identification of ticks
• an understanding of some challenges livestock farmers experience.