The RWSC Subcommittees will be on vacation during the month of July! In the meantime, here’s a quick rundown of their progress implementing Science Plan recommendations. For a full update, attend the RWSC Symposium on Day 1 of NYSERDA’s State of the Science Workshop on Offshore Wind Energy, Wildlife, and Fisheries (July 16-19): Across all Subcommittees: Advancing the development of the RWSC Research Planning Map, with public launch planned this summer. Reviewing, updating, and maintaining the Offshore Wind & Wildlife Research Database with the best available information… [More]

RWSC is in the process of developing a web-based map to support offshore wind research planning. The development of the map and initial set of data layers is funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and is being conducted in collaboration with the Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC), Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), and Responsible Offshore Science Alliance (ROSA). The project leverages the considerable expertise and existing infrastructure within NROC and MARCO related to ocean data development and management associated with the regional… [More]

On March 4th, RWSC hosted a Stochastic Collision Risk Assessment for Movement (SCRAM) Tool Webinar. Lead investigators from USFWS, BOEM, and Biodiversity Research Institute gave an overview of their stochastic collision risk (SCRAM) model that uses movement data from automated radio telemetry to estimate avian collision risk. Read more about the model here. Topics covered included: – Explained why BOEM developed SCRAM and how they are using SCRAM outputs to inform EIS determinations – Introduced how SCRAM incorporates the best available science on collision risk modeling… [More]

On February 15, 2024, the Sea Turtle and Protected Fish Species Subcommittees hosted an Acoustic Telemetry Workshop. These subcommittees identified acoustic telemetry as a key research and management tool in support of environmental monitoring for offshore wind (OSW). The subcommittees also recognize a need for additional coordination around acoustic telemetry deployments, data management, and research for offshore wind and wildlife, and hope to determine ways to facilitate regional collaborative research. The specific goals of this initial session were to hear perspectives from… [More]

January 25, 2024 View the recording of the RWSC Science Plan Release Webinar, held on February 9, 2024. The Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative for Offshore Wind (RWSC) today released the first collaborative research plan to guide studies of interactions between offshore wind and wildlife on the U.S. East Coast. “This Science Plan provides the blueprint for the region’s future work,” said Emily Shumchenia, the director of the RWSC. “It’s also a call to action to collaborate on advancing our understanding of offshore wind and marine ecosystems.” The Integrated… [More]