Keith DeWitt Lott, a wildlife biologist whose area of expertise is bat and bird activity, has joined the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) division of wildlife to study the effects of wind turbines on native and migrating wildlife, especially in the Lake Erie Basin.
Lott joined the agency as part of a comprehensive effort to support wind energy development in Ohio. He will study the impact that the rotating blades of wind turbines have on the approximately 300 species of birds, nine species of bats and other wild animals that are found in the state.
‘As Ohio moves into the realm of wind-based energy, it's important that we do so in a socially and environmentally responsible way,’ says ODNR Director Sean D. Logan. ‘Helping developers site wind turbines so that the impacts to birds and other wildlife are minimized is one way of accomplishing that objective.’
Lott, who holds a graduate degree from the University of Maryland, is based at Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve near Huron. He will provide technical advice to the ODNR division of wildlife and help formulate pre- and post-construction monitoring protocols for wind turbines.
ODNR is an active participant in the Ohio Wind Working Group and the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative.
