Metadata

The Tick Talk metadata describes and explains the data displayed on the Tick Talk Dashboard. The metadata provides context to help you understand and use the Dashboard information.


  • Collection Date: date tick was sampled through tick sweeps in 2022, taken off of a person in 2022, or placed in a tick box.
  • Sample ID: individual tick id, from collection tube (tick23_001). _a, _b, _c refer to different ticks in the same collection tube
  • Site/tick box (if applicable): Location tick was sampled from in 2022 or tick box sample was obtained from
    • GLRC: Great Lakes Research Center, Michigan Technological University, 100 Phoenix Drive, Houghton, Michigan
    • TECH: College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan
    • FORD: Ford Center and Forest, Michigan Technological University, Alberta, Michigan
    • CCHS: Copper Country Humane Society, 501 Nara Park Rd, Houghton, Michigan
    • CCVC: Copper Country Veterinary Clinic, 45815 M-26, Atlantic Mine, Michigan
    • NLVC: Northland Veterinary Clinic, 1111 Hecla St #1, Hancock, Michigan
    • UPEN: UP Engineers, 100 Portage St, Houghton, Michigan
    • UPWR: UP Wildlife Rehabilitation, Lake Linden, Michigan
    • NARA: Nara Nature Park boardwalk,  (insert address)
  • Method (Drag/ Incidental/tick box drop off):
    • Drag: tick sweeps and drags with cloth: only used 2022
    • Incidental: ticks off people in 2022
    • Tick box drop off: crowd sourced tick collection boxes, ticks stored on silica
    • SmallMam: Ticks sourced from small mammals while trapping
    • Bird Banding: Ticks sourced from birds while bird banding.
  • Location: County, street, or location tick was found
  • Source: Animal species tick was found on
  • General x coord: Generalized x coordinate of location tick was found
  • General y coord: Generalized y coordinate of location tick was found
  • Quantity: total number of ticks in a single tube
  • Dog Ticks: total number of dog ticks in a single tube
  • Blacklegged Ticks: total number of blacklegged ticks in a single tube
  • Age: life stage of ticks :  Tick ID Reference
  • Sex: M= male/ F=female: Tick ID Reference
  • Fed (Y/N): Whether or not a tick appears to have had a blood meal
  • Pool_ID: lab id referencing which pool individual ticks went into for processing (tp_0001, tp_0002, etc..
  • Date_pooled: date samples were pooled and homogenized
    • Protocols: Tick Lysis- only highlighted portion
  • Other type: total number of non blacklegged or dog ticks found in a single tube
  • Notes: Other pertinent information