Two Kansas State University biology professors are studying how wind farm turbines impact prairie chickens.

Brett Sandercock and Samantha Wisely received a four-year,
$630,000 grant from the National Wind Coordinating Committee Wildlife Workgroup, a national group of private landowners, energy developers and conservationists.

The two assistant professors of biology will study areas of the Flint Hills where wind energy projects are proposed. Prairie chickens are often researched to measure the overall health of grasslands, and the Flint Hills are one of their last important breeding areas in Kansas.

They hope to set up guidelines for where to put the turbines to minimize their impacts, and to identify potential habitats that could be set aside for the native birds.