James Belthoff
Boise State University, ID·Ecology & Evolution
Large birds of prey that soar on wind currents must cross open water and changing weather to migrate between continents. As the climate shifts, ocean conditions change and wind and solar farms spread, these birds face new risks during migration.
- Fields
Ecology & Evolution
Biology
Earth & Environmental Science
- Topics
raptors
birds of prey
bird migration
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2027
What they work on
- Examine how weather and wind conditions, shaped by a changing climate and ocean conditions, affect migrating raptors' decisions to start migration, the route and pace of travel, and survival.
- Study large soaring raptors as they cross the Strait of Gibraltar between Europe and Africa, working with Fundación Migres in Tarifa, Spain.
- Assess how wind and solar energy development near the Strait of Gibraltar affects the migration and population dynamics of birds of prey.
- Track the range expansion of African raptor species into the region that connects European and African bird populations.
More about the research
This project asks how weather, wind, ocean conditions and renewable energy development affect when raptors start migrating, how they travel, and whether they survive.
Why it matters
Wind and solar energy are expanding quickly, and soaring birds of prey can come into conflict with these installations along major migration routes. Knowing how wind, weather and ocean conditions shape raptor migration and survival could help energy planners and conservation groups reduce harm to these birds while still building renewable energy, especially in key flyways like the Strait of Gibraltar.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Kristen Ruegg
Colorado State University-Fort Collins, CO·Ecology & Evolution
Measure migratory connections, genetic variation and survival and reproduction for three declining grassland bird species across their breeding and wintering grounds.
Jessica Rothman
CUNY Hunter College, NY·Ecology & Evolution
Measure how the diet and nutrient intake of wild redtail monkeys differ across three Ugandan forests with very different plant composition, using behavioral observations and nutritional analysis of the foods eaten.
Chao Sun
Louisiana State University, LA·Engineering
Develop a multi-fidelity model based on large eddy simulation, a technique that computes large turbulent swirls in a flow, to simulate how floating offshore wind turbines respond to combined wind, wave, current and wake flows.
The school
Boise State University: 10 labs on PI Pages, $58M a year on research, 64 research doctorates a year.
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