Tony Goldberg, a US professor of pathobiological science, recently returned from an Africa research trip only to discover that a potentially new species of tick had come back with him hidden up his nose.

“When you first realize you have a tick up your nose, it takes a lot of willpower not to claw your face off,” said Goldberg, a professor at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. “But my sense of being grossed out was balanced by my scientific curiosity.”