FAQs
How is this wind farm off of Atlantic City different than European wind farms?
- This area on the Northeast American shelf is a stratified oceanographic system, influenced by the warm Gulf Steam and cool Labrador current.
What’s with “Living Resources”?
- It’s about more than fish. Whales and clams count, too.
How do Rutgers scientists stay unbiased in industry-funded research programs?
- Contracts go through a Sponsored Programs office that receives payments and passes them to research accounts. Funds are provided before the work begins, not after favorable results are produced, and contract language protects the right of scientists to publish and speak about results as they see them. Further, data obtained from these projects will be “open source” – posted and available for re-interpretation by anyone.
Does Rutgers set policy on wind farm development?
- No. Rutgers scientists report on findings of their studies in peer-reviewed journal articles. We do hope that and expect that these are read and scrutinized by anyone who’s job it is to set policy. We are also sometimes asked to testify in hearings or for panels of policy makers about our methods, results, and interpretations.
For those concerned about whale and offshore wind interactions, we recommend these links:
- Q&A on Recent Whale Strandings and Offshore Wind Energy Development
- NOAA Frequent Questions—Offshore Wind and Whales
- BOEM Fact Sheet – Offshore Wind Activities and Marine Mammal Protection
- BOEM HRG (High Resolution Geophysical) Acoustics Video
- BOEM Center for Marine Acoustics Recent Work
- Marine Mammal Commission statement, 2/21/23