Dr. Anthony P. Clevenger: "The Changing Landscape of Transportation: Designing Roads to Conserve Wildlife Populations"

"Roads are one of the most prominent human-made features on our planet today. Their continued expansion and growth are of concern to land managers and local municipalities. In rural and suburban areas, accidents with wildlife are quickly becoming a major safety concern for motorists. In some areas of North America today, roads are a serious obstacle to maintaining population connectivity and a threat to the long-term persistence of key wildlife populations. The effect of transportation systems on wildlife and biodiversity in general are a primary reason why the public raises questions about the environmental impacts of roads and vehicles. Calls for new solutions are increasingly heard from environmental scientists, the transportation community, and decision makers. Over the last decade, federal land management and transportation agencies have become increasingly aware of the effects of roads on wildlife. Institutional changes to the way transportation agencies go about designing wildlife-friendly roads is gaining momentum. Wildlife passages under and over highways, animal-detection systems, and public-private partnerships are some examples that will inform the audience of the 'state of the art' of mitigating our roadways for wildlife and landscape conservation."

-Dr. Anthony P. Clevenger

CV - Bio

Tony Clevenger has carried out research during the last 12 years assessing the performance of mitigation measures designed to reduce habitat fragmentation on the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) in Banff National Park, Alberta. Since 2002, he has been a research wildlife biologist for the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) at Montana State University. Tony is currently a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Committee on Effects of Highways on Natural Communities and Ecosystems. Since 1986, he has published over 40 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has co-authored three books including, Road Ecology: Science and Solutions (Island Press, 2003). His Banff research has resulted in 17 peer-reviewed publications since 2000. Tony is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, has a Master's degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a Doctoral degree in Zoology from the University of León, Spain.