The Tickborne Disease Prevention Laboratory at West Conn is collaborating with the University of Rhode Island on a Deer Fence Tick Suppression Study.  Biology students are evaluating whether deer fencing on single residential properties reduces the number of host-seeking blacklegged ticks. The study is comparing half- to six-acre residential properties with deer fence (treatments) to similar properties without deer fence in southwestern Connecticut, Westchester County, New York, and southern Rhode Island. For over a decade, the Tickborne Disease Prevention Laboratory at West Conn has focused on the prevention of Lyme and other infectious diseases transmitted by blacklegged ticks in the northeastern United States. Its goal is to help residents avoid illness by managing tick populations and reducing risk of exposure to ticks. Since 2011, more than 40 undergraduate students have contributed to Tick Lab projects  Studies in the WCSU Tickborne Disease Prevention Laboratory have been funded by multiple agencies, including the CDC and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.