Bird Strike Committee Proceedings

2026 Conference Presentations

The U.S. Aviation Wildlife Management Conference was held August 3–6, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio, under the theme Birds, Planes, and Safety Gains: Connecting Science, Policy, and Practice. Presentation slides are linked below where the presenter has made them available.

Monday, August 3

BSC USA Steering Committee Meeting
1 – 5 p.m.

Registration
12 – 5 p.m.

Tuesday, August 4

Continental Breakfast with the Exhibitors
7 – 8 a.m.

Registration
7 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Welcome Remarks
8 – 8:15 a.m.
Laura Francoeur, ACE — Chair, Bird Strike Committee USA; Chief Wildlife Biologist, The Port Authority of NY & NJ

Welcome to Cleveland
8:15 – 8:30 a.m.
Bryant Francis, C.M. — Director of Airports, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport

Housekeeping
8:30 – 8:35 a.m.
Megan Baker — Chair, Annual Conference Committee; Wildlife Biologist, SES Environmental Resource Solutions LLC

Keynote Address
8:35 – 9:20 a.m.
Carla Dove, PhD — Program Director, Feather Identification Lab, Smithsonian Institution

Bird Strike Committee USA Updates and Awards
9:20 – 9:35 a.m.
Laura Francoeur, ACE — Chair, Bird Strike Committee USA

Emeritus Interview
9:35 – 10 a.m.
Russell P. DeFusco, PhD — USAF (ret), BASH Inc.

Refreshment Break with Exhibitors
10 – 10:30 a.m.

Cleveland Airport Introduction
10:30 – 11 a.m.

Technical Sessions #1

Moderator: Megan Baker — Chair, Annual Conference Committee; Wildlife Biologist, SES Environmental Resource Solutions LLC

11 – 11:30 a.m. | TS1-P1 – Regulatory Update

11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. | TS1-P2 – The Normalization of Deviance: Bird Strikes as Initiators in the Swiss Cheese Model of Accidents
Richard Dolbeer, Ph.D. — Science Advisor, Airports Wildlife Hazards Program, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services

Lunch with Exhibitors
12 – 1 p.m.

Technical Sessions #2

Moderator: Nick Atwell — Past Chair, Bird Strike Committee USA; Wildlife Program Manager, Port of Portland

1 – 1:30 p.m. | TS2-P3 – Bird Strikes During Climb and Approach: A Need for Radar-based Management Strategies Involving Multiple Stakeholders
Tim Nohara — CEO, Accipiter Radar Corporation

1:30 – 2 p.m. | TS2-P4 – Wildlife Strike Accident Investigations: An Accident Investigators’ Viewpoint
Heidi Kemner — Senior Aviation Accident Investigator, Federal Aviation Administration

2 – 2:30 p.m. | TS2-P5 – Staying L-Eagle: Migratory Bird and Eagle Permitting
Amy Walsh, Esq. — Migratory Bird Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Refreshment Break with Exhibitors
2:30 – 3 p.m.

Technical Sessions #3

Moderator: Carla Dove, PhD — Program Director, Feather Identification Lab, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History

3 – 4 p.m. | TS3-P6 – Snarge at the Heart of It All: Birdstrike Identification as the Foundation of Science, Policy, and Practice
Carla Dove, PhD; Jim Whatton; Sarah Luttrell; Ingrid Rochon; Faridah Dahlan — Smithsonian Institution

4 – 5 p.m. | TS3 – Vendor Presentations

Closing Remarks
5 – 5:15 p.m.

Welcome Reception with Exhibitors and Poster Presentations
5:15 – 6:30 p.m.
Sponsored by Cleveland Hopkins International Airport

Bird Strike Quiz Bowl
7:30 – 9 p.m.
Sponsored by SES Environmental Resource Solutions, LLC

Wednesday, August 5

U.S. Air Force Breakout Session
7 – 8 a.m.

Registration
8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Continental Breakfast with Exhibitors
8 – 9 a.m.

Concurrent Sessions #1

Concurrent Session 1A

Moderator: Randy Outward — Wildlife Biologist, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services

9 – 9:30 a.m. | CS1A-P7 – From Reports to Risk Windows: Explainable Bird Strike Risk Forecasting as a Practical Test Case for AI-Enabled Aviation Safety
Ashle Whittle; Ross Priday; Tony Cortés, PhD — Avigilance

9:30 – 10 a.m. | CS1A-P8 – Airline Bird Strike Reporting and Bird Strike Committee USA R&D Committee Update
Troy Levanen — Director, Maintenance Operations Safety, Alaska Air Group

Concurrent Session 1B

Moderator: Tom Nolan — Business Development Advisor, Robin Radar

9 – 9:30 a.m. | CS1B-P9 – A Review of Airport Fence Assessments and Wildlife Hazards in Indiana 2010–2023
Robert Sliwinski — Senior Wildlife Biologist, Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd.

9:30 – 10 a.m. | CS1B-P10 – Bird Strike Events Under-Reporting
Duncan Macdougall — Senior Specialist in Mechanical Integrity, Rolls-Royce PLC

Refreshment Break with Exhibitors
10 – 10:30 a.m.

Concurrent Sessions #2

Concurrent Session 2A

Moderator: Ann Hodgson, PhD — Certified Wildlife Biologist, Resource Designs Inc.

10:30 – 11 a.m. | CS2A-P11 – Forecasting the Probability of a Bird & Aircraft Collision
Ryan B. Lunn — Research Scientist, Purdue University

11 – 11:30 a.m. | CS2A-P12 – Beyond the Fence: Using Off-Airport Land Use Information to Support Airport Wildlife Management
Andrea Brown — Interim Assistant Director, Science & Innovation, Falcon Environmental, Inc.

11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. | CS2A-P13 – Vulture Vision: Low Visibility and High-Speed Visual Capabilities of Black and Turkey Vultures
Shane Guenin — PhD Candidate

Concurrent Session 2B

Moderator: Steven Boyd, C.M., ACE — Wildlife Biologist, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

10:30 – 11 a.m. | CS2B-P14 – ICAO Bird/Wildlife Strike Information System (IBIS) Manual (4th edition 2026) and IBIS Data Sharing
John Weller — National Wildlife Biologist, Federal Aviation Administration

11 – 11:30 a.m. | CS2B-P15 – Case Studies on the Operation of Bird Detection Radars at South Korean Domestic Airports
Dr. Sung-Kwan Ku — Department Chair of Aeronautical and Industrial Engineering, Hanseo University, South Korea

11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. | CS2B-P16 – Adaptive Bio-acoustic Deterrence for Airport Wildlife Management: A Case Study from Mora Airport
Sara Nozkova — CEO & Co-Founder, Fox Intelligence

Lunch with the Exhibitors
12 – 1 p.m.

Technical Sessions #4

Moderator: James Laughlin — Wildlife Biologist, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services

1 – 1:30 p.m. | TS4-P17 – Response of Canada Geese to a Naval Aircraft with Onboard Lighting Tuned to Their Eye — Download the full PDF (2.1 GB)
Ryan Lunn, PhD — Research Scientist, Purdue University

1:30 – 2 p.m. | TS4-P18 – “Snarge” DNA Sampling Optimization
Duncan Macdougall — Senior Specialist in Mechanical Integrity, Rolls-Royce PLC

2 – 2:30 p.m. | TS4-P19 – Using Machine Learning to Predict Hazing Success at Airports
Esteban Fernandez-Juricic — Professor of Biological Sciences, Purdue University

Refreshment Break with Exhibitors
2:30 – 3 p.m.

Technical Session #5

Moderator: Laura Francoeur, ACE — Chair, Bird Strike Committee USA; Chief Wildlife Biologist, The Port Authority of NY & NJ

3 – 3:30 p.m. | TS5-P20 – Known Avian Risk Modeling and Management at Van Nuys Airport, California
Roman Nava-Landeros — Wildlife Biologist, USDA/APHIS Wildlife Services

3:30 – 4 p.m. | TS5-P21 – Assessing Mitigation Translocation as a Tool to Reduce Human–Great Horned Owl Conflicts
Brian Washburn, PhD — Research Wildlife Biologist, USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services National Wildlife Research Center

Closing Remarks
4 – 4:15 p.m.

BSC USA Committee Discussion
4:15 – 5 p.m.
All Candidates Welcome

U.S. Navy BASH Working Group Meeting
5 – 7 p.m.

Thursday, August 6

Airport Field Trip
8:30 – 11 a.m.
Bus loading begins at 8:30 a.m. and departs at 9 a.m. The tour concludes at 11 a.m., with buses dropping departing attendees at the terminal before returning to the hotel. Photo ID is required to participate. Meals are not provided on this day.