MAI Aids in Environmentally Responsible Offshore Development
- June 29, 2023
MAI’s Dr. William Ellison and Dr. Jennifer Amaral collaborated with a group of expert scientists to develop a broadly applicable, transparent, repeatable analytical framework for assessing relative risk of anthropogenic activities on marine species, with an emphasis on the noise aspects of the activity. Drs. Ellison and Amaral contributed heavily to the conceptualization and development of a modular framework for assessing relative risk to marine species based on an understanding of the spatial-temporal-spectral intersections of animals and anthropogenic activities. Though created for use by both industry developers and government agencies to assist in minimizing environmental impacts during the installation of offshore windfarms, the risk assessment technique can be applied to the planning of any anthropogenic activity in the marine environment. This work was supported by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).