This meeting and presentation took place both in person at the Liederkranz Club and concurrently online via Zoom.
At 7:04 pm, board member Gillian Henry began by welcoming all attendees to this first in-person meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gillian made the following announcements:
Membership renewals are due for the 2025/2026 year. They can be paid online via the link that has been provided in the email communications to all members. Alternatively, they can be paid by check and mailed. (For directions go to https://www.linnaeannewyork.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025-Renewal-by-Mail-Form.pdf).
The fall field trips have started and are listed on the Society’s website.
The homecoming picnic is being held on September 21st (with a rain date of September 28th) at Summit Rock in Central Park.
Next month’s regular members meeting will be not be held on a Tuesday as is customary, but rather on Wednesday, October 15th. It will again be held in person at the Liederkranz Club at 6 East 87th Street and will be concurrently streamed via Zoom.
The Society still needs to fill the vacant position of president. Gillian encouraged anyone who might be interested in serving as president to let a member of the board know.
Until the position of president is filled, board members and past presidents will be taking turns running the Society meetings. The October regular members meeting will be led by Board Member Richard Davis.
Gillian next welcomed 33 new members to the Linnaean Society:
Aubrey Almanza
Timothy Baird
Z Baird
Benjamin Bolduc
Elizabeth Braswell
Stephan Chenault
Teresa Colaizzo
Christine Connelly
Bob Curtis
Peter Drummond
Richard Dundy
Rory Edge
Pepper Evans
Andrea Fondulas
Brian Fox
Eric Frawley
Kristopher John
Anna Kressbach
Isaac Kresse
Hilli Kushnir
Vuong Mai
Nina Molina
Lisa Nasta
Eve Oppenheim
Diego Orlanski
Catherine Pan-Giordano
Michael Peczynski
Sandra Power
David Sgorbati
Nancy Taubenslag
Marta Torres Quiñones
Denise Vacva
Liam Wager
At 7:09 pm, Gillian turned to the lecture program and introduced the night’s speaker, Dr. Erik Katovich, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Connecticut.
Lecture: “How Do Wind Turbines and Oil and Gas Infrastructure Affect Birds? Empirical Evidence Based on Citizen-science Data,” presented by Dr. Erik Katovich
Dr. Katovich is an economist whose research focuses on “natural resource governance and the effects of resource booms and energy transitions on governments, firms, workers, and the environment.” And, he is a birder. Having a background in both, and because of recent media attention to claims about the effects of wind turbines on birds, he became interested in doing a study to help answer if, and by how much, wind turbines affect birds, and how that compares to the impact of gas and oil extraction by fracking.
Dr. Katovich explained that the energy sector has been changing rapidly over the past 20 years, with shale gas production increasing 20-fold between the years 2007 to 2020, and wind turbine production increasing 48-fold from the years 2000 to 2020. Also, these technologies use a lot of land and may have potentially consequential environmental impacts. Among the examples that he noted is the increase in light pollution from fracking operations, illustrated by a nighttime satellite image of North America. Some of the largest and brightest areas were in North Dakota, Wyoming, Texas, and Pennsylvania, where fracking sites are concentrated, compared to pinpoints of fainter light from the largest cities, including Los Angeles and New York.
Using data from the 2000 through 2020 National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Counts in the lower 48 states and statistical methods of econometrics, Dr. Katovich explained his analysis of the impact of wind turbines and shale gas and oil operations on bird population numbers and bird species diversity. He presented figures and graphs to illustrate many aspects of his study and conclusions (with caveats that this study is looking at population levels—it does not address bird collisions or avoidance behaviors):
After a shale oil/gas well is built, overall bird population numbers decline by 15%. Largest effects are seen on grassland/shrubland birds (a 24% decline), non-urban birds (a 23% decline), and migratory birds (a 37% decline).
After the installation of wind turbines, there are no statistically significant changes in bird population numbers or species counts.
When considering the effect of density (number) of shale wells or turbines built, results are similar but more negative for wells, particularly on species diversity. A 10% increase in fracking wells reduces bird counts by 0.26% (3.6 birds per well).
Breaking down the results by taxonomic orders produces the following:
Shale oil/gas wells: largest negative effects are for Strigiformes (owls), but other groups are negatively affected as well: Piciformes (woodpeckers), Falconiformes (falcons), Pelecaniformes (bitterns, etc.), Accipitriformes (hawks, etc.), and Passeriformes.
Wind turbines: no effect, including for Accipitriformes.
Shale wells: Negative effects persist after shale well installations.
Wind turbines: No negative effects persist after wind turbine installations.
Shale wells within IBAs (Important Bird Areas, identified by National Audubon Society): negative effects are larger when wells are within IBAs.
Wind turbines within IBAs: no effects.
He summarized the key takeaways:
Fracking significantly reduces bird populations.
Fracking reduces bird diversity where shale oil/gas wells are located within IBAs.
Wind turbines have no measurable impact on bird populations or diversity.
Dr. Katovich concluded by noting that we need energy as a society; that there are choices to be made about how it is produced; that each method has its own set of impacts on wildlife; and that we should be working to minimize those impacts. His final slide presented suggestions for what can be done with both fracking and wind turbine infrastructure to minimize harm to birds.
Following is Dr. Katovich’s abstract of his talk:
Rapid expansion of wind turbines and oil and gas fracking infrastructure has raised concerns over impacts on wildlife, especially birds. I combine citizen-science data from the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count with registries of all the turbines and shale oil and gas wells constructed in the United States between 2000 and 2020 to quantify the effects of turbine or shale well construction on local bird populations and biodiversity. In my talk, I will review the current scientific evidence on environmental impacts of wind and oil and gas infrastructure, describe the data and methods I use in my study, explain my results, and discuss options for reducing impacts of energy infrastructure on wildlife.
At 7:47 pm, Vice President for Programming Karen Becker thanked Dr. Katovich for a fascinating talk. She then hosted the Q&A session, starting with questions from the Liederkranz audience, and concluded with questions submitted via the Zoom Q&A function.
Following the conclusion of the Q&A, Karen Becker thanked Dr. Katovich again for an utterly fascinating talk and for leaving the audience with a note of optimism. At 8:20 pm the meeting was adjourned.
Dr. Erik Katovich’s presentation and the Q&A session have been recorded in their entirety, along with Board Member Gillian Henry’s opening meeting remarks. The recording is available for viewing on the Linnaean Society of New York website under the dropdown menu: Programs/Watch/ and on the Society’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@linnaeanny/videos
Respectfully submitted by Lisa Kroop, Recording Secretary