Summary of Federal Grant Award

The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Inc. received a $178,231 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Environmental Biology under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074), awarded on June 1, 2026, with completion targeted for May 31, 2027. The award supports an OPUS (Opportunities for Promoting Understanding through Synthesis) project synthesizing 35 years of long-term ecological research on Lyme disease to advance scientific understanding of this complex infectious disease and improve prediction and management strategies. The research integrates data examining interactions among ticks, bacteria, wildlife, forests, weather, suburban environments, and human populations to identify where and when individuals face greatest disease risk.

The primary deliverable is a comprehensive synthesis that addresses both fundamental infectious disease theory and applied management frameworks for Lyme disease prevention. The project will produce scientific findings that challenge existing population and life history theory based on long-term field observations, including insights regarding the relative importance of rodent versus deer populations in tick dynamics, infection transmission mechanisms, and demographic relationships between tick life stages. By consolidating three-and-a-half decades of research data, this synthesis provides a decision-making framework applicable to modeling and managing Lyme disease and related pathogens, directly supporting NSF's biotechnology priorities and contributing to national public health and wildlife management objectives.