Michelle Stantial Defends M.S. Thesis

Congratulations to Michelle Stantial, who successfully defended her M.S. thesis on December 3rd, 2014, and received her degree.  Michelle's thesis was entitled, "Flight Behavior of Breeding Piping Plovers: Implications for Risk of Collision with Wind Turbines," which was funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.  The study was intended to address the potential impacts of coastal wind power development on an endangered species nesting along the Atlantic coast.  Using flight data, the study predicted that the total number of piping plovers killed per breeding season (adjusted for 98 percent avoidance) could range among study sites from 0.01 to 0.29 for a small-scale residential turbine, 0.03 to 0.99 for a medium-sized turbine, and 0.06 to 2.27 with a large,utility-style turbine, and that collision risk was directly related to habitat configuration  The risk assessment was aimed at providing wildlife managers a useful tool when making determinations throughout the permitting process as to whether or not piping plovers would be negatively impacted if turbines were to be built at or near nesting beaches.

Michelle is currently working on manuscripts for publication while enjoying the peaceful, snowy winter in central New York. Michelle is also looking forward to pursuing new opportunities to examine human/wildlife conflicts, especially in the case of endangered species.