Exploring Spatial and Temporal Trends in Roadkill to Improve and Propose Mitigation Structures

2025 Student Researchers

Percy Zimering '26, Major: Integrative Conservation; Minor: Economics

Taylor Uem '26, Majors: Sociology and Environmental Policy

Past Student Researchers

Sofia Politte '26, Major: Integrative Conservation (2024)

Cayley Santella '25, Major: Integrative Conservation (2024)

Alexa Busby '24, Major: Biology; Major: Environmental Science (2023)

Faculty Mentors

Dr. John Swaddle (2024-2025)

Dr. Matthias Leu (2023)

Dr. Rob Rose (2023)

Project Description

Nearly 2 million animal-vehicle collisions occur every year in the U.S., impacting wildlife populations and human safety. Annually, animal-vehicle collisions cause approximately 200 human deaths, 26,000 injuries, at least $8 billion in property damage and pose significant threats to wildlife movement and population dynamics (Pew Charitable Trust). With the rapid land development in northern Virginia, there is an urgent need to mitigate the increasing number of animal-vehicle collisions to promote road safety, especially near wildlife corridors.

Virginia's Department of Wildlife Resources has collaborated with Virginia Department of Transportation, the Department of Forestry, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and many other partners to develop a Virginia Wildlife Corridor Action Plan to prioritize areas for mitigating wildlife-vehicle collisions. To support their collaborative efforts, W&M students are conducting integrative research to prioritize areas for mitigation, to inform the design of the mitigation structures to maximize impacts on safety and wildlife populations, to explore best practices for stakeholders to collaborate on decision making, and to ensure the long-term sustainability and community support of mitigation efforts through citizen science. The focus of the W&M projects is on Loudoun County, Virginia. 

In 2023, W&M student Alexa Busby mapped priority areas for mitigation utilizing collision data and metrics for mitigation success across Loudoun County. Alexa also worked with Virginia's Volunteer Master Naturalists to explore how citizen scientists can support efforts to monitor mitigation efforts.

In 2024, W&M students Sofia Politte and Cayley Santella identified partners involved in mitigation efforts, factors that make mitigation effective at proposed priority sites (using camera traps), and the partners and process for supporting collaborative decision-making related to mitigation. 

In 2025, W&M students will test products developed in Loudoun County and apply them to DWR identified high priority areas across the state. The students will use acoustic monitors to inform the design of mitigation structures and will further explore decision-making frameworks for mitigation of wildlife-vehicle collisions.

Project ID - Format

23-013-23 - CRP Year

23-013-24 - CRP Year

23-013-25 - CRP Year