News Center Maine interviews Maasch, Elias about tick season
News Center Maine spoke with Kirk Maasch, a professor in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences and the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, and Susan Elias, a UMaine Ph.D. candidate and vector-borne disease ecologist, for a report about the start of Maine’s tick season. Experts say changes in the environment are making the state a more hospitable home for ticks, according to the report. “We have seen a substantial expansion of the tick in the state,” Elias said. Maasch explained there are certain conditions in the winter that determine whether a tick can survive during various stages of its life cycle. In the summer there also are thresholds, mainly humidity, Maasch said.