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2020 State of the Science Workshop

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State of the Science Workgroups

State of the Science Workshop on Wildlife and Offshore Wind Energy 2020: Cumulative Impacts

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To improve our understanding of cumulative biological impacts from offshore wind development, NYSERDA convened seven topical State of the Science workgroups in November 2020. The goal for the workgroups was to identify a list of priority studies that could be implemented in the next five years to position the stakeholder community to better understand cumulative impacts as the offshore wind industry develops in the eastern U.S. Through a combination of virtual meetings, online surveys, and online document collaboration, each group produced a report (below) that highlights recommended research priorities.

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Collectively, these workgroups represent over 200 scientific experts and other stakeholders (workgroup members are listed in an appendix to each report). A big thank you is due to everyone involved, and in particular to the workgroup leads who have put a great deal of time into planning meetings, developing draft reports, and other efforts.

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During the State of the Science culmination webinar on May 21, 2021, workgroup leaders presented a brief summary of group recommendations and discussed common themes among the seven topic areas. See links below to view presentation slides and the webinar recording. 

Workgroup Reports

Final workgroup reports can be downloaded below.

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Environmental Change

Technical Lead

Jeff Carpenter
Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht
 

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Download Report

Fishes & Aquatic Invertebrates

Focus: Sound and Vibrations

Technical Lead

Arthur Popper 
University of Maryland and

Environmental BioAcoustics LLC
Co-lead 
Lyndie Hice-Dunton
Responsible Offshore Science Alliance

Focus: Ocean Stratification

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Report

Bats

Technical Lead

Cris Hein
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

 

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Report

Sea Turtles

Technical Lead

Gregg Gitschlag
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin.

 

Co-lead

Ruth Perry
Shell New Energies

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Report

Birds

Technical Lead

Aonghais Cook
British Trust for Ornithology

 

Co-lead 
Jillian Liner

Audubon New York

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Marine Mammals

Technical Lead

Brandon Southall
Southall Environmental Associates, Inc.

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Co-lead 
Laura Morse

Ørsted

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Benthos

Technical Leads

Steven Degraer 
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
Zoe Hutchison 
University of St. Andrews

Co-lead 
Carl Lobue
The Nature Conservancy

Other Products

Report - Fishes & Aquatic Invertebrates 2022 Revision

Technical Lead: Arthur Popper
University of Maryland and Environmental BioAcoustics LLC

Co-Lead: Lyndie Hice- Dunton

Responsible Offshore Science Alliance

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Podcast 
Across Acoustics; Save the Fishes!: Offshore Wind Farm Noise and Aquatic Life
Kate Williams; Dr. Arthur Popper

 

2020 Workshop Proceedings 

Culmination Webinar

May 21, 2021

Wind Turbines on Water

Photo credits: Loggerhead sea turtle © Kate Sutherland; Benthos © Arhnue Tan; Fish © Lance Anderson; Northern gannet © Birger Strahl; Bats © Clemente Falize; Humpback whale © Sandra Seitamaa;

Green sea turtle © James Thorton; Ocean © Ines Alvarez

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