Understanding and Advancing Improvements to Nighttime Lighting for the Benefit of Birds, Other Wildlife, and People

2025 Student Researcher

Athena Lee '28, Major: Integrative Conservation (2025)

Past Student Researcher

Alexandra Otto '28, Major: Biology (2024)

Faculty Mentor

Dr. John Swaddle

Project Description

Recent research has revealed that nearly three billion birds have been lost in North America since 1970, with many species still experiencing population declines. One significant driver of these declines is artificial lighting at night, particularly offshore lighting along maritime routes that intersect with bird migration patterns in marine ecosystems. Such lighting disrupts birds' natural behaviors by causing them to avoid essential well-lit habitats, interfering with their circadian rhythms, altering metabolism, disturbing predator-prey dynamics, and increasing their risk of collision with buildings and infrastructure. Artificial lighting also negatively affects humans, increasing safety risks and disrupting circadian rhythms, which has been linked to higher rates of certain cancers.

Adopting a multidisciplinary and multispecies justice approach, William & Mary students are partnering with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to study the impacts of offshore nighttime lighting on bird populations in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2024, Ali Otto ’28 examined key hotspots where maritime routes for cruise ships and the oil and gas industry overlap with migratory bird routes. In 2025, Athena Lee ’28 will interview cruise ship industry leaders to assess their lighting practices and explore opportunities to mitigate their impact on both bird populations and human health. This may involve developing an outreach strategy to raise awareness about the negative effects of lighting, share recommendations for mitigation, and collect data on offshore bird interactions, as well as gauging industry willingness to implement potential solutions.

Project ID - Format

24-006-24 - CRP Year

24-006-25 - CRP Year