Flying Blind: How Light Pollution Affects Birds
By Linda Fippin
Abstract: With the onset of the widespread use of electricity came the widespread intrusion of light into the dark of night. With the light came alteration of the environment for many organisms. Some alterations have been beneficial, but most have been detrimental. The effects of light pollution on birds are in some ways representative of the effects on many other animals, but birds have characteristics and behaviors that make them uniquely vulnerable to light pollution. This talk will present an overview of what is known about the interaction between lighting of the night skies and the birds that fly in them.
Author Bio: Linda Fippin is a native Californian now living in Tennessee. She has been birding for about ten years, mostly in California, but also in East Tennessee. She has worked as a volunteer assisting biologists in monitoring the nesting of Western Bluebirds and of the threatened Snowy Plover. She has been a team leader for several Christmas Bird Counts. She was educated in the University of California system, receiving a bachelor’s degree in linguistics from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in oncology nursing from UC San Francisco. She has been involved in oncology clinical trials in both academic centers and the pharmaceutical industry for more than 30 years. Currently, she is the Director of Clinical Operations at Provectus Pharmaceuticals in Knoxville, TN.
