Johnson County Community College
IN-48: Innovation B

Beginning in 2018, JCCC Waste Minimization Coordinator Krystal Anton coordinated a data collection initiative designed to help the campus understand its effect on bird populations. After securing funding support from the Student Sustainability Committee, Anton coordinated a campuswide window assay, which included labeling all ground-level windows with a unique identifier, mapped walking paths, and coordinated a call for and training of volunteers, including on species identification and geotagging software. After a call for volunteers, recruits were trained with bird decoys to follow a series of predetermined routes several times a day in search of injured birds or other evidence of strikes. In addition to campus and community volunteer support, Anton put in to place several tools to empower all members of the campus community to participate: signage at known problem areas promoting a text hotline and dedicated email address for anyone who saw a bird strike a window or found a bird in distress. Finally, Anton navigated state and federal permitting and coordinated with Baker and Kansas Universities to collect identified and frozen mortalities for biodiversity and taxidermy classes.

Since the program launched in 2018, a series of campus improvements have been put in to place; they are discussed in Innovation Credit C. Thanks to the broad volunteer base, campus and community stakeholders have embraced the campus’ role as a more bird-safe institution, and JCCC staff and students have been able to present on this work to other local, state, regional, and national groups. Data collection continues, with regular walks throughout the year and expanded data collection work during migration season.

Press coverage includes:
https://blogs.jccc.edu/campusledger/2018/03/27/sustainability-staff-to-research-catalogue-bird-fatalities-on-campus/
https://blogs.jccc.edu/campusledger/2018/12/07/the-colleges-bird-study-continues-into-2019/
https://www.kctv5.com/news/local_news/jccc-conducts-study-to-protect-birds-from-deadly-collisions/article_51ead8ea-d99a-11e9-9989-d38c7689b5c7.html
https://hub.aashe.org/browse/presentation/25368/A-More-Bird-Safe-Campus-The-JCCC-Bird-Collision-Study-in-Practice-and-the-Classroom