Tick Risk Management

06/27/2026

Next weekend, many of us will be outside enjoying BBQs, camping trips, hiking, backyard games, and time with family and friends. While you're making memories outdoors, don't forget that it's also peak tick season.

The best way to protect yourself and your family is to take a few simple preventative measures before heading outside.

✅ Level 1: Personal Protection

One of the easiest and most effective things you can do is spray your shoes and socks with a permethrin-based spray before spending time in grassy, wooded, or brushy areas. This helps prevent ticks from climbing up your body and can significantly reduce your risk of tick bites.

I've personally used this product for years and highly recommend it:
👉 https://amzn.to/43UEgMx

A few extra reminders:
✔️ Stay on established trails when possible.
✔️ Perform a thorough tick check after spending time outdoors.
✔️ Shower soon after coming inside.
✔️ Check your children and pets before they come back into the house.

Enjoy the holiday, stay safe, and have a happy Fourth of July! 🇺🇸🕷️

For use on clothing, tents, sleeping bags, and other outdoor gear, Sawyer Permethrin repels or kills disease-spreading ticks (Lyme disease), mosquitoes (West Nile and Zika viruses) and more than 55 other kinds of insects. Perfect for camping, backpacking, hunting, travel, backyard BBQs, picnics, ...

06/07/2026

Friendly reminder that tick season is in full swing! Always check your kids after being outdoors. 🌲🔎

05/27/2026

05/23/2026

Tick: Dermacentor variabilis
Stage: Female
Location: East of rocky Mountains
Vectors: Tularemia and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

05/22/2026

Tick : Amblyomma americanum
Stage: Female
Location: Eastern and Southern U.S
Vectors: Ehrlichia chaffeensis and E. ewingii (which cause human ehrlichiosis), Francisella tularensis (tularemia), Heartland virus (Heartland virus disease), Bourbon virus (Bourbon virus disease), and Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI). This tick is associate with alpha-gal the red meat allergy.

05/20/2026

Tick: Ixodes scapularis
Stage: Adult Female
Location: East coast, West coast and Canada
Vectors: Borrelia burgdorferi (lyme disease), Anaplasma, Babesia, Powassan virus, Borrelia mayoni, Borrelia miyamotoi

05/11/2026

IS YOUR PROPERTY ATTRACTING TICKS? 🕷️🌿

Many homeowners don’t realize their property may already have the perfect conditions for ticks to thrive.

Take a quick look at this checklist and see how many apply to your yard:

If you checked multiple boxes, your property may have higher tick activity than you realize.

At Tick Risk Management, we use a science-based approach to help homeowners:

✅ Identify high-risk tick habitats
✅ Reduce unnecessary pesticide use
✅ Improve tick control effectiveness
✅ Create safer outdoor spaces for kids and pets

As a Berkshire native with over a decade of experience in tick-borne disease research and management, my goal is to help families better understand what’s happening on their property and make informed decisions.

📍Serving Pittsfield & Berkshire County

What’s the biggest tick concern on your property this season? Let me know in the comments below.

05/11/2026

Hi everyone — I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and share why I created Tick Risk Management.

My name is Nolan Fernandez, and I’m a Berkshire native with over a decade of experience studying ticks and tick-borne diseases.

I began my education at Berkshire Community College before continuing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I earned a Master’s degree in Microbiology with a focus on vector-borne diseases.

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside researchers, educators, and public health professionals throughout New England as the former Program Coordinator for the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases (NEWVEC).

Through that experience, I saw firsthand how confusing tick management can be for homeowners. Many people rely on routine spraying without fully understanding where ticks are actually concentrated on their property or whether their current approach is truly effective.

That’s why I created Tick Risk Management — to bring science-based knowledge directly to homeowners in a practical and understandable way.

My goal is simple:

✔ Help families understand where ticks are on their property
✔ Reduce unnecessary pesticide use
✔ Improve effectiveness of tick control strategies
✔ Promote safer outdoor spaces for children and pets
✔ Help reduce pesticide resistance through targeted science-based approaches

In addition to my research and public health work, I’m also passionate about education and outreach. I’ve even begun developing children’s educational materials and a kids book focused on tick safety to help families teach prevention and outdoor awareness at an early age.

As both a scientist and someone who grew up here in Berkshire County, I understand how important it is for families to safely enjoy their yards, trails, and outdoor spaces.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this journey so far. I’m excited to continue helping our local community better understand ticks, reduce risk, and make informed decisions using a science-based approach.

05/05/2026

Tick Risk Management helps homeowners and property managers reduce tick exposure through science-based property assessments, identifying high-risk areas and improving control strategies. With expertise in vector-borne disease and public health, we also evaluate your current pesticide program to eliminate unnecessary treatments, reduce costs, and optimize results alongside your pest control provider. Tick sampling and detailed reporting provide the data you need to make informed decisions—not guesses.

04/30/2026

Remember your tick safe practices. Steps to prevent tick bites, CDC urges public as cases spike

5 likes. "Take steps to prevent tick bites, CDC urges public as cases spike"