LRC - First “Tick Talk” event at the “Pint of Science” Festival

“Tick Talk” is a partnership between STEM Ambassadors in Scotland and the Lyme Resource Centre.  “Tick Talk seeks to engage the public with LRC and STEM Ambassador volunteers who have been trained in the key messages of prevention whilst enjoying the outdoors including how to avoid tick bites, how to look for and safely remove ticks after outdoor activity and the identification of the early signs of Lyme disease following a tick encounter.

The first of these events took place as part of the “Pint of Science” https://pintofscience.com festival event held in Drygate Brewery in Glasgow on Wednesday 21st May.  The event is part of a worldwide festival science where local novel research is communicated in a friendly and inclusive way by young researchers interacting with the general public in their local pub!

The Glasgow event was billed as “Fever Rising how climate change drives deadly diseases” with presentations concentrating on recent research into changes in zoonotic and parasitic disease as a result of climate change https://pintofscience.co.uk/event/fever-rising-how-climate-change-drives-deadly-diseases .

The “Tick Talk” session was led by STEM Ambassador volunteer Dr Ally Hughes, Strategic Research Partner for SULSA (Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance), who brought her excellent communication skills and Lyme Resource Centre Resources in to play to make key points about prevention of tick bites, detection and safe removal of attached ticks and the early signs of Lyme Disease.

The presentation was followed by a lively question and answer session where Ally was supported by Norman Lannigan (Trustee) and Gus Walker (volunteer) Lyme Resource Centre. Gus and Norman also stayed behind at the end of the session to meet and discuss issues with many interested people who had attended the event.

LRC Trustee Norman Lannigan said “I am absolutely delighted to get our Tick Talk initiative off to such a great start.  Many thanks to Ally for making this happen and using her exceptional communication skills and LRC resources to make all the key points including reassuring the audience on many occasions that they should continue to enjoy the outdoors whilst encouraging them to manage the risk from ticks.  I would also like to thank the local “Pint of Science” team for making us so welcome and allowing us to distribute our posters and leaflets.”

” We hope this “Tick Talk” session will be the first of many this tick season so if your group would like to host a similar session then please contact the Lyme Resource Centre through the contact page.  “Tick Talk” can be delivered in many formats including face to face and virtual presentations or we can attend with a stand to answer direct questions and to distribute our resources- hope to see you there!