Steve Grodsky
Assistant Professor Courtesy, Natural Resources and the Environment

Dr. Grodsky is an Assistant Unit Leader of the New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. He is a broadly trained, applied ecologist and sustainability scientist. He specializes in the emerging field of renewable energy ecology -- the study of interactions among energy development, ecosystems, and people. Dr. Grodsky and his collaborators conduct solutions-oriented research that tackles pressing environmental issues and guides a sustainable and just energy transition. At Cornell, he also is a member of the Graduate Faculty in the Field of Entomology and a Faculty Fellow with the Atkinson Center for Sustainability.
Education
Ph.D. -- North Carolina State University (Wildlife and Conservation Biology, minor in Entomology), 2016
M.S. -- University of Wisconsin, Madison (Forest and Wildlife Ecology), 2010
B.S. -- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (Conservation and Applied Ecology), 2008
Recent Research
Desert carnivores and big solar | Solar energy and the desert bio- and geodiversity connection | Grassland birds and solar energy | Non-lead ammunition and eagle conservation | Pollinator conservation in National Wildlife Refuges | Pollinator-friendly solar demystified | Ecology of floating solar energy | Northeast guidelines for Species of Greatest Conservation Need and renewable energy development | Agroecology of co-located solar and crop production | Eco-suitability of floating solar and agrivoltaics in the Northeast | Conservation of desert invertebrates
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Please visit my website and Google Scholar page for full list of publications
Grodsky, S. M., K. A. Roeder, and J. W. Campbell. 2023. Effects of solar energy development on ants in the Mojave Desert. Ecosphere. E4668.
Donghai, W.1, S. M. Grodsky1, W. Xu, N. Liu, R. M. Almeida, L. Zhou, L. M. Miller, S. B. Ray, G. Xia, A. A. Agrawal, B. Z. Houlton, A. S. Flecker, and X. Xu. 2023. Observed impacts of large wind farms on grassland carbon cycling. Science Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2023.10.016.
1Authors contributed equally
Y. Yang, J. Zhenong, N. D. Mueller, A. Driscoll, R. R. Hernandez, S. M. Grodsky, L. Sloat, M. Chester, Y. G. Zhu, and D. Lobell. 2023. Sustainable irrigation and climate feedbacks. Nature Food. 4: 654-663.
Almeida, R. M., R. Schmitt, S. M. Grodsky, A. S. Flecker, C. P. Gomes, L. Zhao, H. Liu, N. Barros, R. Kelman, and P. B. McIntyre. 2022. Floating solar: evaluate trade-offs. Nature. 606:246-249.
Grodsky, S. M., J. W. Campbell, and R. R. Hernandez. 2021. Solar energy development impacts flower-visiting beetles and flies in the Mojave Desert. Biological Conservation. 263:109336.
Grodsky, S. M. 2021. Matching renewable energy and conservation targets for a sustainable future. One Earth. 4:924–926.
Campbell, J. W., S. M. Grodsky, A. P. Monroe, and J. A. Martin. 2021. Bee (Apoidea) community response to perennial grass treatments managed for livestock production and conservation. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 313:107391.
Cagle, A., A. Armstrong, G. Exley, S. M. Grodsky, J. Macknick, J. Sherwin, and R. R. Hernandez. 2020. The land sparing, water surface use efficiency, and water surface transformation of floating photovoltaic solar energy installations. Sustainability. 12:8154. doi:10.3390/su12198154.
Yang, Y., S. E. Hobbie, R. R. Hernandez, D. Tilman, S. M. Grodsky, Y-G. Zhu, Y. Luo, T. M. Smith, J. Fargione, J. M. Jungers, M. Yang, W-Q Chen. 2020. Restoring abandoned farmland to mitigate climate change on a full Earth. One Earth. 3:176–186.
Grodsky, S. M., L. S. Saul-Gershenz, K. A. Moore-O’Leary, J. P. Whitney, and R. R. Hernandez. 2020. Hare don’t care! Consumption of a rare, desert milkweed containing phytochemicals by the black-tailed jackrabbit. Journal of Arid Environments. 174:103991.
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. Johns Hopkins University Press.
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.
Courses Taught
NTRES 6940: Energy Ecology
Contact Information
Fernow Hall 211E
Ithaca, NY 14853
grodsky [at] cornell.edu
Additional Links
Steve in the news

News
Steve Grodsky, assistant professor of natural resources, and a multidisciplinary team of researchers, soon will learn how solar panels placed on top of water bodies can affect the biology of aquatic systems.
- Cornell Atkinson
- Lab of Ornithology
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

News
Cornell Atkinson has awarded seed funding to nine interdisciplinary projects that address a range of sustainability topics.
- Animal Science
- Biological and Environmental Engineering
- Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management