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If you want/need a tick tested…please feel free to contact us for any additional details

Applications are currently not being accepted for admissiom into the Research for Undergraduates in Math and Science (RUMS) due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Follow the link to learn more about RUMS.

Students who would like to apply for Spring 2021 acceptance into the program please contact us for additional information.

Application for 2019

RUMS Application Process 2019

RUMS Application Cover Sheet

RUMS CV Template

RUMS Sample CV

What to Submit:

1. Application Form, Complete the application form.
2. Curriculum Vitae, This is a research version of your resume.  See example and template on website.
3. Personal Statement, Write a one-page statement that provides a portrait of who you are as a student. Describe your research interests and goals. Be very specific about your career objectives and how participation in the RUMS program will help you achieve those objectives. Tell us what motivates you to conduct research. Let us know why you feel you are particularly qualified for this program. Provide details of any experiences that you feel are relevant to your application.
4. Letters from Two References

Please request that reference letters from an instructor who can best evaluate you and from a former employer or other person who can provide a character reference. Please ask these people to submit the letter directly to hgaff@odu.edu with your name in the subject line. If your references need more time, you must submit everything else by the deadline, and send an email to Dr. Gaff (hgaff@odu.edu) to notify us of the situation.

When to Submit:

The application deadline is December 1, 2018.

Entry in to the RUMS program is a competitive process. Selected students will be interviewed in early December, and final RUMS participants will be notified by December 20, 2018.

Where to Submit:

All application materials (application form, CV, personal statement) should be submitted electronically to hgaff@odu.edu.

For more information about the application process, please contact: Dr. Holly Gaff (hgaff@odu.edu) or Dr. David Gauthier (dgauthie@odu.edu).

Our lab offers pathogen testing services to people who want to have ticks tested. Please follow these instructions:

Put your tick in a small ziplock bag and freeze it for at least two hours to ensure it is dead. Put that bag in another bag and then put into some type of padded or more solid envelope.  We recommend you send the tick via UPS or FEDEX, although you can send it via the US Postal Service. Please include information on where you think you picked up the tick and a contact e-mail so we can send you the results of our testing. Please make the check out to “Old Dominion University” and write “Tick Research” on the memo line.

ODU Tick Team testing form 

The Old Dominion Tick Lab is a continuation of a tick surveillance study of the Hampton Roads Area, led by Dr. Holly Gaff, Dr. Wayne Hynes, Dr. Eric Walters, and Dr. Dave Gauthier. Through their guidance and passion for research a multitude of fieldwork, labwork, and data analysis is completed daily. There are always more questions to be asked with our on-going data collection, therefore the research continues!

Our goal is increase awareness of the public and medical and veterinary professionals to ticks and tick-borne pathogens (bacteria, viruses and parasites that cause disease). By increasing awareness of these agents we hope to reduce the chances of infection. We seek information on what ticks are where and what pathogens they are carrying. This will allow us to provide important public health information on the risk of tick associated diseases, particularly in Virginia.