Edwina von Gal, executive director of the Perfect Earth Project, noticed a theme at the many discussions she leads on all things landscaping on the East End: People want to talk about ticks. They want options to sustainably manage the pests so they can enjoy their properties without fear of picking up a tick-borne illness.
A conversation with the clever title “Ticknology” resulted from her realization and will be held at the Bridgehampton Community House on Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m.
The program “will offer science-based advice on how to manage ticks in our yards without harmful side effects to us, our pets, or pollinators,” reads a flier. “We’ll also learn more about what our local government is doing and discover the real story on sprays and spraying from trusted experts who have no financial stake at play.”
Joshua Ginsberg, president of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, which has studied ticks for 35 years, will offer his insights. Moses Cucura, a tick entomologist with Suffolk County Vector Control who runs the county’s tick surveillance and management program, will talk about his experiences on the South Fork.
“We want to focus on the efficacy of various chemically based approaches or landscape-based approaches and then discuss the risk of these methods to human health,” Ms. von Gal said by phone.
The Surfrider Foundation, the Peconic Estuary Partnership, and the Stony Brook Southampton Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center, among others, will be on hand with information to further educate attendees. Both the county and town tick advisory committees have been invited as well.
“We try to give people straightforward science so they can make up their own minds,” Ms. von Gal said. “I can hardly tell people what to do.”
Tickets cost $25 and are available at perfectearthproject.org/events.
