How to Organize Your Nerdery for Better Environmental Assessments – Visual Effects & Historic Properties

Presentation Description: Environmental assessments for offshore wind facilities are inherently complex and often impenetrable for non-technical audiences who may have critical interests in their content. The scale of the projects and the size of communities potentially affected by their development must be considered when designing and implementing effective surveys and studies. This poster presentation uses visual effects assessments for historic properties as one example of a creative approach to data interpretation and presentation that can make key factors and results of studies more transparent and scrutable to a range of stakeholders. In this example, visual simulations, GIS, and graphic design were leveraged to illustrate the existing conditions and visual settings of historic properties as well as the potential visibility and visual effects of offshore wind energy infrastructure. This poster will describe the integration of these disciplines, demonstrating how this approach enhances the accessibility and clarity of complex effects assessments for consumption and understanding by expert and non-expert audiences.