Pre-conference workshop: More than Monitoring—Encouraging Use of Ecological Data to Inform Responsible Renewable Energy Development

Monday, March 11, 2024

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM MT

Location: Broadmoor West Ballroom CD

Moderator(s)

Shilo K. Felton, PhD (she/her/hers)

Senior Scientist
Renewable Energy Wildlife Institute

Speaker(s)

Ryan S. Butryn (he/him/his)

Senior Information Science Manager
REWI
Jericho, Vermont

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Christi M. Calabrese (she/her/hers)

Director, Permitting and Environmental Affairs
EDP Renewables
Houston, Texas

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JD

Jay Diffendorfer

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Karen Herrington, MS (she/her/hers)

Regional Ecological Services Program Lead, Midwest Region
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Bloomington, Minnesota
Jordan C. Martin, MS (she/her/hers)

Market Research Analyst
NREL
Golden, Colorado

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Victoria Zero

Senior Biologist, ESA Compliance Lead
Western EcoSystems Technology (WEST)
Laramie, Wyoming

PDF Handouts

Monitoring is widely used and intended to evaluate the impact of human activity on wildlife. However, monitoring is costly and becomes an inefficient use of resources if the results are not informing management decisions. Data from monitoring efforts is collected in several repositories and databases, which can inform our understanding of renewable energy-wildlife interactions and help develop strategies to minimize negative impacts and overcome permitting hurdles. This interactive workshop will bring together experts from several renewable-energy wildlife data repositories as well as experts in data collection, management, and analyses to discuss the barriers that limit the usefulness of current available monitoring data and potential pathways for a process to make the best use of this information moving forward.