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You have probably seen a lot about wind farms on the news. Many people worry that building huge turbines to generate electricity could harm the environment. There is extra concern about birds flying into the turbine blades and getting hurt. To make sure wildlife doesn’t get hurt by wind farms, a whole team of scientists studies the local ecosystem, including the birds, mammals, amphibians, and plants.

Based on what we learn, we help the engineers decide what construction techniques to use and where to place the turbines. In my job, I study how birds fly, nest and look for food in the area where the wind farm is planned. I gather data from thousands of observations of birds, then I use a type of maths called a probability density function to find the areas that are most important for the birds. Once I have the answers, I use a computer program to turn my calculations into a map. This map shows the engineers where to place the turbines so that birds are least likely to fly into them, and it helps the builders avoid disturbing birds that are nesting or eating in the area.

First thing in the morning, I get woken up by my pet greyhound– he’s better than an alarm clock! Some days I work from home. If I’m in my flat, I’ll sit in a big comfy chair with my computer and a huge notepad. Even though I eventually put the models on the computer, I like working the maths out on paper first because I find it easier to catch mistakes that way.

Either way, I check my email for new data. Usually there’s lots! I upload this data into whatever computer program I want to use. Some programs help me figure out the maths for my models. Another one helps me look for typos and other problems in the data. And another allows me to turn my maths predictions into maps. If I’m lucky, the ecologists who gathered the data in the field also took photos or videos.

My coworkers are usually working on other parts of the same project, so we talk a lot during the day. We give each other advice and answer each other’s questions.  But we don’t always agree! It’s actually a good thing, because if we’re not sure what the answer is– are those birds just hanging out for the day, or are they always on that beach?– we know we need to collect more information, and that makes our scientific conclusions better.