Steve Grodsky

Assistant Professor Courtesy, Natural Resources and the Environment

About

Dr. Grodsky is a broadly trained, applied ecologist and sustainability scientist. He specializes in the emerging field of energy ecology—the study of interactions among energy development, ecosystems, and people. He collaborates with graduate students, colleagues, and stakeholders to conduct solutions-oriented wildlife research that tackles pressing conservation concerns. In addition to his appointment with the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Dr. Grodsky is an Assistant Unit Leader of the U.S. Geological Survey’s New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and the Co-founder and Co-director of the Wild Energy Initiative. The Wild Energy Initiative facilitates impartial research and education on interactions between energy development and Earth, including its systems and species, to address urgent sustainability issues.

Education

PhD: North Carolina State University - 2016
MSc: University of Wisconsin-Madison - 2010
BSc: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - 2008

Recent Research

Dr. Grodsky’s research program informs sustainable renewable energy development in a diversity of anthropogenic biomes to bolster conservation and management of natural resources and maintain ecosystem services during an unprecedented energy transition and period of global change.

Selected Publications

Grodsky, S. M. & R. R. Hernandez. 2020. Reduced ecosystem services of desert plants from ground-mounted solar energy development. Nature Sustainability. 3:1036–1043.
Hernandez R. R., A. Armstrong, J. Burney, G. Ryan, K. Moore-O'Leary, I. Diédhiou, S. M. Grodsky, L. Saul-Gershenz, R. Davis, J. Macknick, D. Mulvaney, G. A. Heath, S. B. Easter, M. K. Hoffacker, M. F. Allen, and D. M. Kammen. 2019. Techno-ecological synergies of solar energy produce beneficial outcomes that mitigate global environmental change. Nature Sustainability. 2:560–568.
Moorman, C. E., S. M. Grodsky, and S. P. Rupp (eds.). 2019. Renewable Energy and Wildlife Conservation. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 10 September 2019.
Grodsky, S. M., C. E. Moorman, S. R. Fritts, J. W. Campbell, M. A. Bertone, C. E. Sorenson, S. B. Castleberry, and T. B. Wigley. 2018. Invertebrate community response to coarse woody debris removal for bioenergy production from intensively managed forests. Ecological Applications. 28:135–148.
Grodsky, S. M., J. W. Campbell, S. R. Fritts, T. B. Wigley, and C. E. Moorman. 2018.Variable responses of non-native and native ants to coarse woody debris removal following forest bioenergy harvests. Forest Ecology and Management. 427:414–422.
Grodsky, S. M., C. E. Moorman, S. R. Fritts, S. B. Castleberry, and T. B. Wigley. 2016. Breeding, early-successional bird response to forest harvests for bioenergy. PLOS One. 11(10): e0165070.
Grodsky, S. M., R. B. Iglay, C. E. Sorenson, and C. E. Moorman. 2015. Should invertebrates receive greater inclusion in wildlife research journals? Journal of Wildlife Management. 79:529–536.
Grodsky, S. M., M. J. Behr, A. Gendler, D. Drake, B. D. Dieterle, R. J. Rudd, and N. L. Walrath. 2011. Investigating the causes of death for wind turbine-associated bat fatalities. Journal of Mammalogy. 92:917–925.