2026 State of the Science

Coordinated monitoring across offshore wind projects is crucial for understanding regional scale effects of offshore wind on marine life and habitats. Various entities, including federal, state, and non-governmental organizations, have developed guidance, standards, and/or best practices for conducting and coordinating monitoring across projects. This session will explore how these recommendations and standards are being applied and identify where we are making progress, what still needs to be done, and how we can enhance the adoption and applicability of these standards moving forward. This session will open with an overview presentation of the current state of guidance and recommendations for wildlife and fisheries monitoring. Next, through a series of lightning talks, panelists will discuss their experiences in developing or applying guidance, challenges they’ve encountered, and opportunities for developing future best practices. Speakers and topics are expected to include: Opening talk: Existing guidance and best practices for coordinating wildlife and fisheries monitoring for U.S. offshore wind (Emily Shumchenia (emily.shumchenia@rwsc.org) , RWSC, and Reneé Reilly (renee@rosascience.org), ROSA) Lightning Talks: Lessons learned from the more established offshore wind energy industry in the UK (Final Speaker TBD - Invited) Recommended regional monitoring standards to evaluate impacts to fisheries and protected fish species from construction and operations of offshore wind farms in the U.S. Atlantic (Elizabeth Methratta (elizabeth.methratta@noaa.gov), NOAA Fisheries) Development and application of best practices for monitoring bird and bat interactions with offshore wind development in the U.S. Atlantic (Scott Johnston (sjmartindale@yahoo.com), Independent Contractor and Former USFWS or Current USFWS. Final Speaker TBD) Prioritizing and standardizing environmental monitoring for an emerging floating offshore wind industry in California (Rikki Eriksen (rikki@californiamsf.org), CMSF) Development and implementation of coordinated monitoring activities for marine mammals focusing on passive acoustic monitoring (Brandon Southall (brandon.southall@sea-inc.net), SEA)  Following the presentations, speakers will participate in a moderated panel and Q&A session focused on the conference theme. This discussion will emphasize lessons learned across taxa, industries, and regions and encourage collaborative work to enhance the effectiveness and applicability of monitoring standards.

Compensation for any remaining environmental impacts after avoidance and minimization measures have been employed is a core element of the mitigation hierarchy for offshore wind and other development projects worldwide. In most regions, compensatory mitigation for offshore wind requires demonstration of a quantifiable offset for unavoidable impacts at the project-level, and these mitigation projects are generally led by developers. Compensatory actions often may include conservation measures implemented outside of the impact area as long as such actions can demonstrate a 1:1 or greater positive outcome to offset predicted or observed negative impacts. Examples include management of breeding bird colonies and restoration or creation of benthic habitats. However, reliance on individual project-level offset activities may not represent the most effective method for reaching overall conservation goals for affected species and habitats, as the most pressing threats are often regional in scope and require complex solutions. Regulators, conservation organizations, developers and other stakeholders have therefore begun considering a more strategic approach to compensation. This symposium will explore the challenges and limitations of developer-led compensation projects, how strategic thinking is evolving in the U.K. and might be translated to the U.S., and the comparative value of these different approaches to wildlife and habitat conservation. The goals of this symposium are to: 1.Identify the challenges and successes of developer-led compensation projects; 2.Provide examples of strategic approaches to compensatory mitigation; 3.Identify lessons learned from strategic compensatory mitigation frameworks; 4.Describe an example compensatory mitigation planning tool to inform decision-making; and 5.Solicit questions and ideas from the audience on how to lay down the groundwork for a programmatic approach to compensatory mitigation. Presentations: •Kim Peters (Orsted): Introduction. •Robin Ward (Niras): Hornsea 3 Kittiwake ANS status, challenges, successes •Anna Tarbet (Renewables UK): Strategic compensation –The Marine Recovery Fund and Strategic Compensation Studies project. •Emily MacDonald (Scottish Government): Enabling Offshore Wind & Marine Resilience through Strategic Compensation in Scotland - The Scottish Portfolio of Compensatory Measures. •Erik I. Johnson (Louisiana State University): Lessons learned from the Gulf Coast: offsetting wildlife impacts with a strategic ecosystem restoration framework. •Marta Ribera and Tricia K. Jedele. (The Nature Conservancy): Version 3.0 of TNC’s Marine Mapping Tool - A Visual Catalog of Mitigation Actions: An opportunity to improve species and habitat outcomes through context and coordination of mitigation decisions.

RWSC, ROSA, NROC, and MARCO have spent significant time working with a variety of partners to understand the marine life data products needed for decision making (i.e., planning, impact assessment) and the input datasets and analysis/synthesis steps needed to sustain those products. Overall, marine life and habitat data supply chains are complex, fragile, and facilitated manually resulting in data products that don't always integrate the most recent data, are expensive and time-consuming to produce, and/or are updated too infrequently. The goal of this symposium is to share what we've learned about certain data supply chains, including why roadblocks exist, and discuss recommendations for improvements to sustainability and robustness to data infrastructure and data management workflows. The symposium will take the form of a panel discussion, moderated by RWSC Director Emily Shumchenia. Emily will provide a 5 minute introductory presentation. Panelists will provide 15 minute presentations about a particular data supply chain and ways to improve it from its current status. Q&A on individual presentations will be held until the end of the last presentation when the panel will conclude with brief Q&A and discussion about common roadblocks and challenges across data types and potential solutions (10 mins). Presentations and panelists: 1.What are marine life and habitat data supply chains and why do they need to be improved? - Emily Shumchenia, RWSC (5 mins) 2.Marine mammal models, seabird models, OBIS-SEAMAP – Sarah DeLand, Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University (15 mins) 3.Seafloor habitat data and data products – Lianne Allen-Jacobsen, INSPIRE Environmental (15 mins) 4.Regional telemetry at a crossroads: Leveraging data sharing and telemetry networks for improved stewardship of migratory marine fauna – Dave Secor and Mike O'Brien, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (15 mins) 5.Q&A (10 mins)

Large-scale, multi-disciplinary, and multi-taxa collaborative research projects can be hugely informative for improving our understanding of ecosystem-level change, including change due to disturbances such as offshore wind energy development. This session focuses on identifying key learnings from recent offshore wind environmental research projects in the U.S. and Europe and exploring how those results are being used to refocus future research efforts and/or inform decision making. The session will include 1) a longer initial talk to introduce the topic, 2) a series of lightning talks on selected research projects, and 3) a panel discussion focused on key lessons learned across different aspects of each project. Speakers and topics are expected to include: · Introduction: Importance of regional research projects for prioritization and transferability of information, with a focus on the WinMon.be Research Program (Steven Degraer, Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences) Lightning talks: -Project WOW - assessing effects of the first commercial-scale offshore wind development in the U.S. (Doug Nowacek, Duke University) -PrePARED – studying predators and prey around renewable energy developments (Jared Wilson, Marine Scotland), -PelaGIO - ecosystem level assessment of the impacts of offshore wind farms (Beth Scott, University of Aberdeen), -BOWIE - environmental/social research to assess knowledge gaps and uncertainties for benthic impacts (Martin Solan, University of Southampton) Q&A and panel discussion: the main focus of the panel discussion will be to identify key take-home messages both within and across projects. Namely, where have we advanced the state of knowledge and retired old questions (or identified new ones)? Discussion among panelists will be encouraged to identify common themes and lessons learned across projects. This session directly addresses the 2026 conference theme, “Building on a strong foundation: deepening knowledge and finding collaborative solutions”. At the end of the session, audience members will be able to identify lessons learned from a range of recent large-scale research projects, and be able to identify how these lessons learned have advanced the state of knowledge and informed decision making.

The successful implementation of monitoring and mitigation measures for protected species is a crucial part of responsible offshore wind development. Such measures should be designed to both effectively assess and reduce potential impacts to protected species, while also being practicable to implement in an offshore setting. Over the last few years, we have seen the first offshore wind farms in the US progress from development into construction, and consequently, have had the opportunity to implement and also evaluate the success of monitoring and mitigation programs. The goal of this session is to share successes and highlight how monitoring and mitigation measures have been effective, while also sharing any lessons learned along the way. These insights in turn could be used to shape future measures to ensure that they continue to be appropriate, effective and realistic to implement. 75 minutes total time: 10-15 mins per presentation, 20-30 min Q&A / panel discussion. The final speaker slate is under development.

The Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) is widely used for a variety of purposes, including shipping corridors, offshore wind energy, and thriving commercial and recreational fisheries. It is a rapidly changing ecosystem characterized by high seasonal, interannual, and climatological variability, reflected in both the oceanography and in the many species living in the region, from phytoplankton to large marine mammals. Management measures, such as fishing quotas, protected areas, and slow zones, are decided and modified on time scales that are often significantly longer than the observed changes in these living marine resources. The MAB benefits from high-resolution shelf-wide observations of a variety of oceanographic data delivered in near-real time, as well as recent increases in monitoring efforts for zooplankton, fishes, and marine mammals. This increased spatiotemporal sampling coverage provides an opportunity to develop regional, data-driven management approaches that more appropriately match the time and space scales of the oceanographic, biological, and ecological variability. This symposium aims to bring together a group of experts in oceanography, prey field dynamics, fisheries, and management to discuss possible pathways forward for more integrated and dynamic management systems. We will use the three most recent years (2023-2025), during which we observed - among other things - extremely low pH and dissolved oxygen events, a higher volume of anomalously cold and fresh water, and multiple large whale aggregations, to highlight the intense variability the MAB experiences and how the oceanography and marine organism dynamics are tightly coupled. We plan to three short presentations to introduce the session: one focused on patterns in the dynamic oceanography of these years (Glen Gawarkiewicz), one focused on the spatiotemporal variability of zooplankton on the New Jersey coastal shelf (Ashley Hann), and one focused on fisheries dynamics (Samantha Alaimo). The remaining half hour will consist of a panel discussion, with participation from the audience, on ways the available data can be used to pave a path towards more dynamic ecosystem-based management, and other datasets and needs that would make dynamic management easier to achieve. In order to better capture the realities of the science-to-management-to-implementation pathway, the panel will include the three aforementioned speakers plus a fisheries resource manager, a marine mammal regulations expert, and a commercial fisher.

Effective communication of offshore wind science is essential to informed decision-making, stakeholder collaboration, and public understanding of this rapidly evolving sector. With several U.S. Atlantic offshore wind projects having moved from early planning into construction and operations, and with a growing body of offshore wind research across regions, communications researchers and practitioners have gained insight that can inform future efforts. A growing body of applied work now offers important perspectives on how scientific information about offshore wind, wildlife, and ecosystems is exchanged and shared. This session will focus on synthesizing lessons learned from recent communications efforts and research, and translating those findings into practical approaches, tools, and best practices for effective science communication. This session will feature 8-minute presentations from five speakers representing state government, non-governmental organizations, academia, and industry: Kate McClellan Press (Senior Project Manager, Scientific Research at NYSERDA; Steering Committee Member, RWSC) will discuss state-led and regional collaborative efforts to disseminate evidence-based scientific information about offshore wind development; Erin McLean (Communications Director, Turn Forward) will discuss findings from recent multi-state polling conducted via the Energy Research Exchange, focusing on how data-driven insights into public concerns can inform the selection of trusted messengers and the development of effective communication strategies. Professor Alison Bates (Colby College) will discuss her research on social acceptance for offshore wind, focusing on how energy justice and procedural equity shape public perceptions and community trust. Dr. Bates will also discuss the use of Virtual Reality as a tool for public engagement with offshore wind. Shannon Howley (PhD Candidate, University of Rhode Island) will examine the mechanisms through which misinformation spreads and provide research-based recommendations on how these findings can inform future science communication practices. Jessica Davis (Permit Manager, Ørsted) will discuss the use of ArcGIS StoryMaps as an emerging tool for translating complex scientific data into accessible visual narratives for the public. Together, these perspectives will highlight approaches that support transparency, trust, and the meaningful and effective exchange of scientific knowledge across diverse stakeholder communities. Following the speaker presentations, the session will expand to a broader moderated panel discussion, and may include additional invited panelists offering varied perspectives. This moderated discussion will engage participants in identifying practical, transferable strategies, persistent challenges, and collaboration opportunities to strengthen science communication and outreach across disciplines and stakeholder groups.

Offshore wind (OSW) energy development in the US Atlantic will continue to change marine benthic ecosystems. Extensive research from the North Sea has established a foundational understanding of OSW-mediated benthic effects, such as seafloor disturbance and artificial reef effects. However, the transferability of these findings to the US is uncertain due to key differences in seafloor habitats, oceanographic dynamics, and biotic communities. Marine benthos in the US Atlantic have received less research attention over the last few decades, leading to a significant deficiency in baseline knowledge needed to effectively anticipate and assess impacts from development. This symposium will convene industry and academic experts to explore innovative strategies to assess effects from US development and discuss anticipated changes to marine communities and ecosystem function. We aim to foster solutions-oriented dialogue and share technical and conceptual approaches to effectively anticipate, monitor, and assess benthic-mediated impacts of US development. Presentations: L. Allen-Jacobson: “Visualizing Hard-Habitat Dynamics in an OSW Farm” Using high-resolution visual data and 3D photogrammetry to assess benthic change from OSW farm construction, we will present patterns observed at US wind farms to describe community structure, changes and species interactions, and benthic habitat use. R. Cerrato: “Far-field changes in benthic habitat and community structure due to offshore infrastructure” Little is known about how sorted bedforms may interact with submerged structures. This study showed how these interactions changed benthic invertebrate species composition, increased abundance, and reduced diversity and evenness. K. Lato: “Food Web Modeling to Anticipate Ecosystem Changes from Artificial Reef Effects” We developed pre- and post-construction benthic food web models for three US wind farms. We will describe differences in these communities and discuss the utility of using these methods to anticipate benthic ecosystem change with OSW development. M. McElroy: “Assessing transferability of OSW-related benthic habitat effects from the North Sea to the US Atlantic” North Sea studies inform expectations of OSW-related benthic change in the US, but differing ecological conditions may limit inference. We propose a framework to guide appropriate knowledge transfer and identify gaps where alternative approaches are needed to develop and test hypotheses about OSW benthic change in the US. G. Edmondson: “Modeling Grey Seal Populations in a Changing Offshore Food Web” We modeled how alterations in prey availability and energy pathways from OSW reef effects influence grey seal foraging success and long-term population dynamics in the US. Linking benthic change to top predator responses improves forecasts of the ecological costs and potential benefits of US development. Plans: Presentations with a panel discussion.

Fisheries monitoring plans are required for all offshore wind projects in US waters. These requirements can be imposed by federal, state and/or local governmental agencies during the permitting process. Developers typically collaborate with university researchers and consultants to develop and execute the monitoring plans, and developers have made concerted efforts to involve local fishermen in the planning and execution of field work. Multiple stakeholder groups are typically consulted during the development of fisheries monitoring plans, and provide feedback on aspects such as survey techniques, target species, survey design, and data analysis. To date, the Block Island Wind Farm is the only location where the fisheries monitoring plan has been completed. Fisheries monitoring in support of offshore wind is ongoing from southern New England to Virginia. The goal of this session is to provide the opportunity for researchers and developers to share perspectives on lessons learned, challenges, and successes developing and executing fisheries monitoring plans. The speakers will focus on topics including survey design and techniques, timelines and survey logistics, stakeholder engagement, deconfliction with offshore wind construction and operation activities, coordinating among developers, adapting to changing regulatory frameworks and strategies for disseminating results. Given the magnitude of ongoing fisheries monitoring, we believe this symposium will provide a valuable opportunity to learn from their challenges and successes, to guide the development of future monitoring plans. Speakers: Brian Gervelis: Insights from a Decade of Fisheries Monitoring for Offshore Wind in the US. - This presentation will provide insights on the changes to fisheries monitoring over time, lessons learned, and suggestions for moving forward. David Bethony: Lessons Learned from Fisheries Monitoring Programs - This talk will discuss the challenges and solutions in executing monitoring plans, centered around experiences from monitoring conducted by the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation. Chris Rillihan: Seven Years of Fisheries Monitoring for Offshore Wind: A Retrospective Assessment from a Fisheries Biologist - This talk will discuss several topics, including the selection and design considerations, permitting and regulatory requirements, industry collaboration, and industry health and safety challenges. Jeff Kneebone: Adaptive monitoring: designing and maintaining a regional acoustic telemetry project in a fast-paced, volatile offshore wind environment - Experiences with innovative and adaptive survey design, execution, and reform of work plans and often necessitated learning through trial and error.