News and Publications

News

• National Lab Hosts Campus Study of Bird Impact from Solar Panels, Offering Unique Opportunity for Hampshire Students (November 2024)
• DOE Success Story Features Argonne-Developed Technology to Continuously Monitor Birds Around Solar Facilities (October 2024)
• Argonne’s Avian Acoustic Monitoring at Solar Facilities Featured by the New York Times (September 2024)
• Avian-Solar Interaction Monitoring - Research Highlight

Media

• Large-scale Solar Association:
  • Good News for Birds and Clean Energy (LinkedIn post, December 2025)
  • Lake effect or data mirage? (Blog post, December 2025)
• Hampshire College:
  • Hampshire College Collaborates with Argonne to Advance Avian-Solar Research (Facebook post, December 2024)
  • Argonne Teams Up with Hampshire College to Study Birds and Solar Energy (Instagram post, December 2024)

Publications

• Hamada, Y., Laskowski, A., Klehr, A., Tarpey, P., King, D., Szymanski, A., and Randhir, T. (2026). Video-based Observations of Bird Nesting Behavior at a Photovoltaic Facility Correlate with Nest Survey Data. The 2026 American Clean Power Siting & Permitting Conference, Aurora, CO, March 30-April 1, 2026.
• Walston, L., Hartmann, H., Fox, L., Szoldatits, K., Hamada, Y., and Ricketts, M. (2026). Biodiversity Benefits and Best Practices to Optimize Ecovoltaics. The 2026 American Clean Power Siting & Permitting Conference, Aurora, CO, March 30-April 1, 2026.
• Hamada, Y., A.Z. Szymanski, P.F. Tarpey, and L.J. Walston (2026). Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Daytime Video Monitoring for Bird, Insect, and Other Wildlife Interactions with Photovoltaic Solar Energy Facilities. Diversity, 18(2):95. DOI: 10.3390/d18020095
• Walston, L.J., H.M. Hartmann, L. Fox, M.E. Stanger, S.E. Steele, N.R. Narváez, K.E. Szoldatits, I. Hogstrom, and J. Macknick (2025). Ecovoltaic solar energy development can promote grassland bird communities. Journal of Applied Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.70208
• Walston, L., J. Martin, C. Rottler, B. Bruninga-Socolar, H. Hartmann, M. Ricketts, J. McCall, L. Fox, Y. Hamada., K. Szoldatits, and J. Macknick (2025). Avian Community Responses to Solar Energy Development in the Midwestern United States. the 2025 Solar Wildlife and Ecosystems Research Meeting, Scottsdale AZ, November 16-19, 2025.
• Hamada, Y., P. Tarpey, T. Barlow, R. Garret, K. Henty, A. Li, J. Maness, O. Maxey, D. McCallum, M. Pettyjohn, H. Stanford, S. Riney, C. Toomey (2025). Avian Behavior on PV Solar Facilities: Clear Evidence of Foraging, Nesting, and Predation; Little Evidence of Daytime Collision Risk, the 2025 Solar Wildlife and Ecosystems Research Meeting, Scottsdale AZ, November 16-19, 2025.
• Nadler, M., F. Sarah, M. Ramirez, E. Stelling, Y. Hamada, and L. Walston (2025). Bat Use of a Solar Facility in Texas. the 2025 Solar Wildlife and Ecosystems Research Meeting, Scottsdale AZ, November 16-19, 2025.
• Walston, L., K. Szoldatits, H. Hartmann, L. Fox, M. Stanger, S. Steele, I. Hogstrom, and J. Macknick (2025). Bat Activity at Ecovoltaic Sites in the Midwest. the 2025 Solar Wildlife and Ecosystems Research Meeting, Scottsdale AZ, November 16-19, 2025.
• Szoldatits, K., L. Walston, H. Hartmann, L. Fox, M. Stanger, S. Steele, I. Hogstrom, and J. Macknick (2025). Bat Activity at Ecovoltaic Solar Energy Developments in the Midwestern United States. DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03864
• Hamada, Y., J. Swaddle, P. Tarpey, M. Pettyjohn, D. McCallum, H. Sanford, C. Toomey, K. Henty, A. Szymanski, and L. Walston (2025). Video recorded NO bird collisions but collision avoidance behavior at PV solar facilities in the U.S. The 2025 American Clean Power Siting & Permitting Conference, Seattle, WA, April 14-16, 2025.
• Walston, L., H. Hartmann, L. Fox, M. Stanger, S. Steele, N. Narvaez, K. Szoldatits, I. Hogstrom, and J. Macknick (2025). Avian and bat community responses to solar energy development in the Midwestern United States. The Ecological Society of America Conference, Baltimore, MD, August 14, 2025.