CUSHING — The Cushing Historical Society invites the public to its opening Spring Potluck, Wednesday, May 8, at 6 p.m., for the potluck; at 7 p.m. Robert Smith, MD will be presenting his “Tick Talk.”

Smith is an infectious disease physician at Maine Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.

In 1987, he cofounded the Vector-Borne Disease Lab at the MaineHealth Institute for Research where his team conducts research on ecologic and clinical aspects of Lyme disease and other tickborne diseases. His work has taken him outside the hospital and the clinics to do field studies along the Maine coast.

Smith has been exploring Cushing’s woods and waters for as long as he can remember, and notes that back then, there were no ticks to be found, according to the Historical Society, in a news release. The first deer ticks were noted In Maine in the mid 1980s, and have since spread throughout the state.

His talk will discuss the causes of the proliferation of deer ticks in Maine, a snapshot of the diseases they carry, current strategies to lower risk, and the promise of new approaches currently under study.

Smith and his spouse, Margaret Creighton, are the parents of Nick, Malcolm and Louisa, and four grandchildren, and are delighted they all now reside in Maine.