2026 State of the Science

Avian collision risk is typically assessed prior to the construction of offshore wind farms using Collision Risk Models (CRMs). Results of CRMs can be used to inform siting permitting/consenting for wind farms, as well as informing potential mitigation needs. However, there is substantial uncertainty surrounding the inputs to these models and the accuracy of their predictions, emphasizing the importance of transparent, collaborative, and publicly available science based on the best available information. In response to these challenges, the International Collision Risk Modeling Working Group was formed to bring together stakeholders from around the globe that develop and use these models. The working group’s mission is to promote information exchange and lessons learned about avian CRMs and identify avenues for improving CRM structure and application. The proposed workshop at State of the Science will be the working group’s fourth annual meeting. Building on priorities identified in previous meetings, this four-hour workshop will convene scientists, regulators, resource managers, wind energy developers, and environmental consultants to further the working group’s efforts. Participants will review ongoing work, engage in breakout and full-group discussions on pressing CRM issues, and determine next steps, such as continuing to develop databases of CRM parameter values and developing a framework for using CRMs to inform cumulative impact assessments. Key focus areas for the working group this year may include: (1) CRM updates from workshop participants (1-3 slides per presenter); (2) Finalization of working group Terms of Reference (full group); (3) Continued development of a draft database of turbine inventory with associated CRM input parameters (full group); (4) Review and feedback on a draft framework for using CRMs to assess cumulative effects (breakout groups followed by full group discussion). By integrating breakout sessions, plenary discussion, and feedback on emerging work products, the working group meeting aims to solidify collective progress and chart a collaborative path forward for CRM research and practice.

The Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative (RWSC) proposes a workshop to address critical gaps in understanding the effects of offshore wind infrastructure on marine ecosystems. Technical discussions stemming from recent proposal reviews associated with both RWSC and Responsible Offshore Science Alliance (ROSA) highlighted an opportunity to coordinate across research teams implementing modeling-observational approaches to understand hydrodynamic and atmospheric changes due to offshore wind infrastructure and implications for ecology. Multiple groups are working with different model types, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and applications for decision-making. Because teams are working independently and are funded by different entities, and because each approach has its own technical considerations and applications, there is a risk that model outputs and analysis results become disconnected and incomparable. To ensure that modeling-observational approaches are tuned to both advance the best science and answer the questions that decision-makers need while using the latest observational and data collection technology, we are proposing this workshop in coordination with MTS’s TechSurge and Tech Cafe, which is organized in coordination with NYSERDA. The TechSurge and Tech Café themes would be steered toward innovative technologies to collect the oceanographic and ecosystem data that can initialize and validate models and provide the observations needed to characterize any impacts to the ecosystem from offshore wind infrastructure. The overall workshop goals are to 1) connect researchers who are using complementary approaches to leverage each other’s activities by facilitating validation/assimilation data sharing, coordination of modeling parameters and scenarios, and comparison of results from different types of models; and 2) inform researchers of decision-makers’ questions and data needs that coupled modeling-observational approaches can address. The workshop will open with a brief overview from RWSC on regional oceanographic monitoring and modeling efforts, followed by a series of facilitated breakout groups. These groups will review and refine RWSC’s characterization of existing oceanographic monitoring and modeling, identify areas of opportunity, overlap, and ways to leverage existing data and data products. The outcome will be two lists: one of actions for researchers (i.e., what data are needed, and where, to validate and/or improve models and update understanding of oceanographic processes), and another, informed by decision-makers and researchers, outlining priority areas needing funding (i.e., what questions are still not being answered, or need more attention?). This workshop is an ideal fit for the 2026 State of the Science: by connecting researchers, the workshop will build a more cohesive and collaborative scientific foundation with direct implications for decision-making, and enable future, collaborative research for ocean management.

New York’s ocean and estuarine ecosystems are dynamic and interconnected but also face a range of systemic environmental and developmental pressures. This session will take a deep dive into the State’s offshore planning efforts. The New York State Ocean Action Plan is a 10-year plan, spanning from 2017 – 2027, developed with extensive input from a variety of ocean user and interest groups so that the State’s management decisions for offshore habitats are informed by the best available science. As we approach the conclusion of the first planning cycle, it is essential to assess progress to date and begin identifying future actions and priorities to inform the next 10-year planning horizon. The session will explore the effect of changing energy policies, emerging fields including deep sea mining and carbon capture, as well as how to best leverage regional data and monitoring efforts. Participants in this side meeting will be part of an informative and engaging session to chart a path forward that upholds shared priorities of ensuring ecological health, promoting sustainable growth, increasing resilience, and empowering public stewardship of our shared ocean and coastal resources. The NYS Ocean Action Plan Side Meeting aims to: assess progress on current actions and prioritizing future actions; refine goals for next 10-year planning horizons; and gather feedback on opportunities for collective action and partners for progress. There is extensive overlap between the target audience of the SOTS and Ocean planning. We plan to solicit input on strategic planning and partnerships for New York’s Ocean resources from diverse interest groups attending the Symposium.  A report from the side meeting will be developed to summarize input received and discussions on priorities that will be used to inform planning and create a framework for the next 10-year OAP. The report will be published on the Ocean Action Plan website. ​Meeting format is expected to consist of an introduction to the OAP and progress along with a mix of full group and break-out discussions covering the OAP’s four goals (ecological integrity, sustainable growth, adapting to change, and public stewardship). Additionally, world café style discussions may be used to gather feedback and consensus tools, such as online polling (e.g., Mentimeter), may be used for prioritizing actions. Breaking up the topic-specific sessions will facilitate efficient participation and reduce conflicts with other side meetings enabling participants to strategically share their expertise.

The contribution of offshore wind vessel activity to strike risk is generally considered to be very low both because of the small relative contribution of this industry to existing maritime vessel traffic, as well as the strict rules in place for offshore wind activities that are intended to reduce strike risk to whales. Offshore wind development involves many kinds of vessels over the life of a wind farm, and vessel needs change during each project phase. Vessel activity typically peaks during wind farm construction and immediately subsides post-construction to near pre-construction levels. Offshore wind vessel activity is subject to mitigation and monitoring measures that are not required of other maritime activity, including enhanced speed reduction, dedicated observers, and near-real time passive acoustic monitoring, all of which lower the strike risk profile for offshore wind vessels relative to vessels from other industries. For more detailed information and scientific citations, please see the full FAQ document linked below.

As of spring 2026, the US has 7 offshore wind farms in operation or under construction and passive acoustics has been a required method for monitoring and mitigation for all 7 projects. In addition, passive acoustics is a requirement for all other projects that have been approved for construction. In an effort to educate stakeholders on this complex topic, we will conduct a 2 part meeting as follows: Part 1: Introduction to Passive Acoustics (~2 hours with Q&A). During Part 1 we will have a series of educational presentations to provide a basic introduction to the science and application of passive acoustics use in the marine environment. While open to all attendees, this will be intentional geared towards parties who are interested in introductory information. Part 2: A review of the application of passive acoustics for US Offshore Wind Projects (~4 hours). During Part 2 we will provide a comprehensive review the role of passive acoustics has played (or is anticipated to) in the execution of offshore wind projects. Specifically we will step through the application of passive acoustics for assessing noise from activities to detecting presence of marine species and how information is used for real time mitigation and long-term monitoring of effects and species responses. Results from constructed projects will be shared where publicly available. We will further review the range of technology currently utilized for conducting the activities and highlight emerging innovations in the area of passive acoustic research. In the final 2 hours we will invite regional experts in passive acoustics to a panel discussion to provide recommendations for refinements in passive acoustic monitoring requirements for future offshore wind projects. We will follow this session with an open discussion with attendees.

Effects of offshore energy development on birds are often predicted by overlaying real or modeled species exposure data with numeric approaches for assessing potential impacts. Vulnerability assessments, which quantify the likelihood of impacts from specific stressors on species, provide a standardized framework for evaluating and comparing the anticipated effects of stressors, such as offshore wind energy, on individual species and, by extension, communities. They can also serve as input data for spatially explicit assessments that combine vulnerability with spatial distribution data to calculate potential exposure and overall risk. Historically, these assessments have focused primarily on comparing vulnerability across location-specific suites of species. However, the physiological and life-history traits driving differences in vulnerability among species and taxa have rarely been systematically assessed and are notable data gaps. This meeting brings together researchers who have thought extensively about the traits that contribute to vulnerability, developed approaches to trait-based analysis, and have been at the forefront of recent spatial analyses that combine traits and exposure to assess risk, thus informing high-level siting decisions for offshore energy projects. The proposed speaker lineup is as follows: Larissa Donida Biasotto: Avian sensitivity index at wind farms: a novel trait-based approach to estimate seabird vulnerability. This presentation will focus on a new approach to calculating the sensitivity index for seabirds, illustrated by Australian avifauna. Greg Forcey: Evolution of vulnerability assessments for birds and offshore energy projects. This talk will compare a vulnerability assessment for Atlantic birds completed 13 years ago with an updated version currently underway. Juliet Lamb: An approach to trait-based analyses for informing species vulnerability and risk from offshore wind development. This talk will outline the approach currently being developed to assess the traits driving among-taxa differences in collision and displacement vulnerability along the Atlantic coast of North America, and how results can be applied to novel species and geographic contexts. Michaela Peterson: A quantitative assessment of risk to seabirds and landbirds from energy development. This talk will describe an approach to combining exposure and vulnerability assessments for seabirds and migratory birds, with a case study in the Gulf of Mexico (America), to give an overall assessment of risk that is spatially explicit and can be implemented at varying spatial scales. The goals of this meeting are to allow the audience a better understanding of the metrics that inform a vulnerability assessment, the methodology that informs bird vulnerability offshore, and how vulnerability assessments inform risk assessments for birds offshore.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), through its Ocean Data Portal (the Portal), strives to provide GIS data layers suited to improve management and development needs of diverse stakeholders including private industry, state and federal agencies, and Tribal Nations. Managers, fisheries councils, marine industries, researchers, public, and advocacy groups use the Portal to understand the impacts of proposed ocean management changes and infrastructure projects, to mitigate conflicts, and to inform research and monitoring, and to flag conflicts or mitigation options during planning and permitting. The Portal is built using open source software to improve interoperability with a growing number of external systems, sources, and partners and equipped with tools for creating, using, modifying, and sharing spatial data products. When agencies or developers assess new lease areas or project layouts, the Portal provides data layers that can be overlaid to aid analyses and improve public awareness, such as wind areas with fishing, shipping, wildlife, and seafloor habitat layers. The ability to visualize these data and information layers together helps to minimize potential conflicts and supports environmentally responsible marine development, one of MARCO’s core priorities. The Portal team collaborates with the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS), Ecotrust, and the Northeast Regional Ocean Council’s (NROC) Ocean Data Portal and Rutgers University to provide interoperable access to data, context, and stories of common interest for users. MARCO is currently working to identify seafloor mapping priorities and next steps for data and tool development to meet the increasing need to deconflict seafloor development and use. MARCO wants to identify stakeholder community needs and to contribute and collaborate with ROSA and RWSC’s research and data management coordination activities. This workshop will include several speakers briefly summarizing relevant features of the Portal and seeking feedback from the community on new data layers, planning tools, and informational needs to support seafloor mapping and use of these data to help mitigate impacts on fisheries and habitat. Speakers will also serve as panelists to answer and discuss the main topics of interest from the community and lead group discussion and surveys on: 1) the nature and extent of the gaps in seafloor mapping data and information and 2) additional data layers or mapping tools that might be useful in the future. This meeting will bring together community members as a feedback session to help enhance The Portal, in collaboration with MGDS, in the near future.

​​As offshore wind development (OSW) progresses in the New York Bight (NYB), considerable resources have been directed towards collecting pre-construction data to better understand impacts to marine ecosystems and inform best practices. However, these datastreams remain largely siloed, limiting their usefulness for informing risk assessments. OSW developers, agencies and regional collaborators have identified the need for integrated efforts to better understand the interplay between the environment, species distribution and behavior, and anthropogenic activities. Here, we focus on integrating multiple datastreams for improved risk assessments that meet developer needs and minimize environmental impacts. The goals are to: 1) explore spatiotemporal variability in oceanographic parameters; 2) assess how this variability influences marine mammals and other species; 3) evaluate how integrated data can aid in risk assessment; and 4) improve understandings of developer needs in the NYB. Together, these perspectives will advance efforts for effective monitoring and mitigation measures for OSW development, lay the groundwork for new collaborations, and facilitate future research. Meeting outline: Short Introduction on the importance of data integration and collaboration: The development of OSW spurred numerous monitoring efforts to establish baselines for marine mammal presence. Here, we outline potential benefits of collating and integrating multiple datastreams and incorporating dynamic environmental variables for improved estimates of habitat use.  Variability in oceanographic parameters and indices: Oceanographic conditions in the NYB vary across multiple scales due to the confluence of numerous water masses, variable winds and currents, seasonal blooms in primary producers, and ocean warming. These features result in interannual trends in oceanographic conditions that can have bottom-up effects on marine wildlife.   Variability in whale presence/absence from multiple datastreams: For over a decade, WCS has monitored whales using multiple datastreams. We present a case study to illustrate how integrating data horizontally across datastreams and longitudinally across years provides a more comprehensive understanding of large whale spatiotemporal presence in the NYB.  Incorporating and evaluating risk: Risk assessment frameworks do not typically incorporate real-world development scenarios or the unique biology of target species. Here, we present a tool that evaluates risk taking into account the specific needs of development projects and the biological and life-history traits of target species in the NYB. How will integrated datastreams improve efficiencies and improve mitigation around development activities in the NYB: The pause in OSW development provides an opportunity to optimize the data that have been collected in the NYB and explore how data integration improves decisions around mitigation in a dynamic environment. ​

On November 20, 2024, 43 stakeholders, including representatives from the fishing industry, state and federal agencies, academic research, offshore wind (OSW) energy development, NYSERDA, ROSA, and Tetra Tech staff, convened to discuss the potential for a stock enhancement-based program as a mitigation strategy for offshore wind energy impacts on the surfclam fishery. Focus was placed on actionable items and strategies developed from workshop-generated key insights on the subject matter provided by conference attendees. As a result of this workshop’s proceedings, NYSERDA has created a Regional Surfclam Specialist Committee as a subcommittee of NYSERDA's F-TWG comprised of representatives from the sectors referenced above. The Committee’s deliverables will include the development of a comprehensive surfclam monitoring plan for the New York Bight along with standardized data collection and analysis methods in addition to recommendations for coordinating existing and/or future monitoring efforts. It is anticipated that this Committee will meet four or five times over the next year as the Plan develops. This Side Meeting will be considered one of the working meetings for the Specialist Committee.​

Join the MTS Offshore Renewable Energy Committee, in partnership with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative (RWSC), during the 2026 NYSERDA State of the Science Workshop for an evening Mini TechSurge and Tech Café focused on advancing innovation in offshore energy monitoring and environmental data. This convening brings together researchers, technology developers, regulators, and end users to exchange ideas, showcase emerging solutions, and build cross-sector partnerships that accelerate responsible offshore energy development. This event is designed to facilitate partnerships among researchers, technology developers, and regulatory bodies to accelerate solutions addressing environmental data and monitoring activities in offshore energy, and to provide a platform for technology companies to network and demonstrate their innovations to customers, regulatory bodies, decision-makers, and scientists. The program will include: Mini TechSurge Panel: A focused cross-sector discussion designed to explore future needs and solutions in offshore monitoring. Tech Café: An interactive exhibit hall featuring technology providers showcasing cutting-edge tools and solutions. The Tech Café includes rapid-fire lightning talks and live desktop demonstrations, as well as dedicated networking opportunities connecting developers, researchers, and end users. Exhibitor opportunities are available at the Tech Café; visit https://mtsociety.memberclicks.net/offshore-innovation-exchange-tech-cafe for more information.