About PollyMap
“If my patient feels miserable every time they walk outside… why can’t I tell them exactly what’s in the air they’re breathing?”
For years, Lindsey Forstie, FNP, treated thousands of patients with seasonal allergies and asthma. Like allergy providers across the country, she relied on national pollen reports to guide treatment decisions.
But something didn’t add up.
Patients living only a few miles apart often had completely different symptoms on the same day. Some improved dramatically while others continued to struggle — even when the public pollen report looked identical.
The more Lindsey looked, the more she realized the problem wasn’t the patients.
It was the data.
Meet the team
The PollyKit Labs team combines clinical insight, scientific curiosity, operational expertise, and clear communication to make local environmental information more useful and trustworthy.
Founder & Chief Air Detective
Lindsey turned one persistent question from allergy care into PollyMap and PollyKit. She brings a clinician’s eye, a researcher’s curiosity, and a teacher’s heart to understanding what is really floating through our air.
Scientist & Nature Sleuth
Adeline brings next-generation curiosity to the team. She loves biology, scientific discovery, and following the tiny clues that help us better understand the natural world.
Operations & People Wrangler
Larisa keeps the details moving and the people connected. She helps turn big ideas into organized action—and makes the whole operation feel a little more human along the way.
Search & Storytelling Lead
Ben helps people find PollyMap and understand why local air data matters. He connects search strategy with clear, useful stories that make the science easier to discover and share.
Guided by experts
A growing group of clinicians, botanists, and environmental researchers helps shape how PollyMap collects, identifies, and shares local pollen and mold information — so the reports you read are careful, credible, and genuinely useful.
See the Advisory Board
Several advisory seats are still open — applications are welcome.
Most public pollen reports are designed to represent large geographic regions rather than your actual environment. They often rely on a limited number of collection stations, historical trends, weather models, and regional forecasting instead of measuring the air at your home, workplace, or school.
For someone trying to understand why they feel terrible every afternoon, a regional average isn’t always enough.
Lindsey wanted something better.
She developed a simple collection system that patients could hang exactly where they live, work, or spend time.
Instead of asking:
“What’s the pollen count in Phoenix?”
She could finally answer:
“What’s actually floating through the air outside your front door?”
The first patient samples were eye-opening. Neighborhoods only a few miles apart showed completely different pollen and mold exposures. Some homes revealed surprisingly high airborne mold. Others had tree pollen that never appeared on regional reports.
Every new sample reinforced the same conclusion:
Location matters.
As Lindsey began incorporating PollyKit results into allergy care, treatment became far more personalized. Instead of relying only on generalized pollen forecasts, she could combine allergy testing, symptoms, and real environmental exposure to create a more informed treatment plan.
Patients loved finally seeing what was actually in their air. They understood why symptoms changed from one neighborhood to another, why home and work exposures were different, and why they reacted on days when public reports suggested everything was “low.”
Today, PollyKit has become an essential part of her practice.
“I honestly don’t know how I was treating patients effectively without this information.”
What began as a way to improve patient care quickly grew into something much bigger.
That’s why PollyMap was created.
PollyMap is America’s local pollen and airborne mold reporting network. Instead of relying only on regional forecasts, PollyMap is building a nationwide network of trained collection partners whose samples are verified in the PollyKit Lab using high-resolution microscopy, AI-assisted particle identification, and expert peer review.
PollyMap and PollyKit are products of Carefree Allergy, LLC, founded by Lindsey Forstie, FNP, to bring real environmental exposure data into allergy care.
Every report is tied to:
Because allergy care shouldn’t be based on averages. It should be based on your actual air.
Our mission
To improve patient care by replacing guesswork with real, location-specific environmental data.
Whether you’re a patient trying to understand your symptoms, a parent helping a child with asthma, or an allergy clinic looking for better information, we believe one thing:
Better data leads to better decisions.
And better decisions lead to healthier lives.
