New York State
Environmental Technical Working Group
2020 State of the Science Workshop
State of the Science Workshop on Wildlife and Offshore Wind Energy 2020: Cumulative Impacts
The 2020 State of the Science Workshop, hosted by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) was held virtually from November 16-20, 2020. This workshop brought together over 430 stakeholders engaged with environmental and wildlife research relevant to offshore wind energy development. Workshop sessions focused on assessing the state of the knowledge regarding offshore wind development's cumulative effects on populations and ecosystems.
Following plenary presentations in November, seven workgroups formed to identify research priorities for understanding offshore wind's cumulative impacts on sea turtles, marine mammals, fishes and aquatic invertebrates, benthos, birds, bats, and oceanographic processes in the eastern United States. A final webinar in May 2021 brought together the leads from the seven workgroups to present the groups' recommendations and discuss common themes.
Highlights
With over 430 attendees from 21 states and 20 countries, the workshop brought together a diverse group to share knowledge on cumulative impacts to wildlife from offshore wind development. Workshop presentations included 23 plenary speakers and 20 lightning talks, with discussions focused around cumulative impact frameworks, current knowledge on different wildlife taxa, known and hypothesized cumulative effects to wildlife from offshore wind energy development, and opportunities for regional coordination and collaboration to continue improving our understanding of offshore wind and marine ecosystems.
Thank you to everyone who participated! The State of the Science 2020 Workshop Proceedings can be found here.
Workshop Goals
This workshop brought together scientists to present and discuss their research. Workshop goals included:
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Assessing the state of the knowledge regarding offshore wind development's cumulative effects on populations and ecosystems, and
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Working to identify key studies that could be conducted in the next 3-5 years to improve our understanding of cumulative biological impacts as the offshore wind industry develops in the U.S.
Scientific Program
Terms of Use for Presentation PDFs
Links to presentations from the workshop are provided below where available, courtesy of the presentation authors. These presentation files are provided for personal edification only, and should not be cited without contacting the author(s) directly. Users should not reuse or redistribute slides, or images on these slides, without express permission from the presentation author(s).
Monday, November 16
Session 1: Framework for Understanding Cumulative Impacts from Offshore Wind
Moderator:
Howard Rosenbaum, Wildlife Conservation Society
Doreen Harris, Acting president and CEO of the New York State Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
Gregory Lampman, NYSERDA
Cumulative anthropogenic impacts on the world's oceans
Sara Maxwell, University of Washington
Framework for defining the scope of cumulative adverse effects assessments for offshore wind
Wing Goodale, Biodiversity Research Institute
An ecosystem functioning approach for thinking about cumulative impacts
Steven Degraer, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
Metapopulation PVA: Developing methods for reducing uncertainty in impact assessments
Julie Miller, Marine Scotland Science
Q & A / Panel discussion
Tuesday, November 17
Session 2: European Efforts to Understand Cumulative Impacts from Offshore Wind
Moderator: Sophie Hartfield Lewis, Ørsted
Assessing cumulative effects: Challenges faced by offshore wind developers
Madeline Hodge, Ørsted
Steven Degraer, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
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Offshore wind farms: Cumulative impact assessment in the Netherlands
Astrid Potiek, Bureau Waardenburg
Kate Searle, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Q & A / Panel discussion
Session 3: Lightning Talks Round 1
Moderator: Matt Robertson, Vineyard Wind
5-minute submitted talks on offshore wind and wildlife topics, followed by Q&A.
Wednesday, November 18
Session 4: Current Knowledge on Cumulative Impacts I
Moderator:
Jillian Liner, Audubon
New York
The Vineyard Wind SEIS: Assumptions made in the cumulative impact scenario
Ian Slayton, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Cumulative impacts of displacement on seabirds
Stefan Garthe, Kiel University
Cumulative impacts to birds from collisions with offshore wind farms
Aonghais Cook, British Trust for Ornithology
Q & A / Panel discussion
Session 5: Current Knowledge on Cumulative Impacts II
Moderator:
Ruth Perry, Shell
Cumulative physical effects of offshore wind energy development on oceanographic processes
Jeff Carpenter, Institute of Coastal Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht
Cumulative effects of offshore wind on benthic habitats
Drew Carey, INSPIRE Environmental
Cumulative noise impacts upon fishes (and turtles) from offshore wind construction and operation
Arthur Popper, University of Maryland & Anthony Hawkins, Loughine Ltd.
Designing studies to detect the ecological impacts of offshore wind development
Elizabeth Methratta, contractor to NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center
Q & A / Panel discussion
Thursday, November 19
Session 6: Current Knowledge on Cumulative Impacts III
Moderator:
Francine Kershaw, Natural Resources Defense Council
Cormac Booth, SMRU Consulting
Cumulative noise impacts to marine mammals from offshore wind development and operations
Brandon Southall, Southall Environmental Associates Inc. & Howard Rosenbaum, Wildlife Conservation Society
Vessel encounter risk model tool
Mary Jo Barkaszi, CSA Ocean Sciences Inc.
Population impacts to bats from wind energy development
Cris Hein, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Q & A / Panel discussion
Session 7: Lightning Talks Round 2
Moderator: Jenny Briot, Avangrid Renewables
5-minute submitted talks on offshore wind and wildlife topics, followed by Q&A.
Friday, November 20
Session 8: Designing Studies to Assess Cumulative Impacts
Moderator:
Louis Brzuzy, Shell New Energies
Synthesis of the science: interactions between offshore wind development and fisheries
Andrew Lipsky, NOAA Fisheries, Brian Hooker, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Annie Hawkins, Responsible Offshore Development Alliance & Lyndie Hice-Dunton, Responsible Offshore Science Alliance
Approaches to understanding cumulative effects of stressors on marine mammals
Peter Tyack, University of St. Andrews
Jon Hare, NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center
Q & A / Panel discussion
Charge and process for working groups
Kate Williams, Biodiversity Research Institute
Kate McClellan Press, NYSERDA
Session 9: Informal Breakout Groups
Group leads for the seven work groups hosted informal discussions to obtain initial input from workshop attendees. Learn more about work groups here.
Culmination Webinar
May 21, 2021
The culmination webinar brought together the leads from the seven workgroups to share each group's research recommendations and discuss common themes.
View Recording
View Presentation Slides
Photo credits: Loggerhead sea turtle © Kate Sutherland; Offshore wind farm © Nicholas Doherty; Whale and birds © Humberto Braojos; Benthic habitat © Arhnue Tan; Offshore wind farm © Chuyuss