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You can download all peer-reviewed publications on this page by clicking “Read the Paper.”.
Solar energy and animal movement
Future footprints of animals and energy.
Floating solar and phytoplankton
FPV location and percent coverage matter.
Conventional solar can harm genetic diversity
Desert plant species are sensitive.
2024
Aligning renewable energy expansion with climate-driven range shifts.
Ashraf U*, Morelli TL, Smith AB, Hernandez RR (2024) Nature Climate Change 14: 242-246, doi: 10.1038/s41558-024-01941-3.
2023
The intertwined renewable energy-water-environment (REWE) nexus challenges and opportunities: Case study of California.
Jafarinejad S, Hernandez RR, Bigham S, Beckingham B (2023). Sustainability 15(13): 10672. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310672.
Sustainable irrigation and climate feedbacks.
Yang Y, Mueller ND, Driscoll AW, Hernandez RR, Grodsky SM, Sloat SL, Chester MV, Zhu Y, Lobell D (2023) Nature Food 4: 654-663. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00821-x.
Solar energy-driven land cover change and alteration of landscapes critical to animal movement in the continental United States.
Levin MO, Kalies EL, Forester E*, Jackson ELA, Levin AH, Markus C, McKenzie P, Meek J, Hernandez RR (2023). Environmental Science & Technology, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c00578.
Of Mojave milkweed and mirrors: the population genomic structure of a species impacted by solar energy development.
Wade M, Moore-O’Leary K, Grodsky SM*, Hernandez RR, Meeks M (2023). Conservation Science and Practice 5(8), https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12987.
Standardized metrics to quantify solar energy-land relationships: a global systematic review.
Cagle AE*, Shepard M*, Jordaan SM, Armstrong A, Grodsky SM*, Hernandez RR (2023) Frontiers in Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2022.1035705.
Congratulations Alex!
2022
Floating solar panels on reservoirs impact phytoplankton populations: a modelling experiment.
Exley G, Page T, Thackeray SJ, Folkard AM, Couture RM, Hernandez RR, Cagle AE, Salk KR, Clous L, Peet Whittaker P, Michael Chipps M, Armstrong A (2022) Journal of Environmental Management 324, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116410.
Life cycle impacts of concentrated solar power generation on land resources and soil carbon losses in the United States.
Rangarajan S, Hernandez RR, Jordaan SM (2022) Frontiers in Sustainability 3, https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2022.1021971.
Land-use intensity of electricity production and tomorrow’s energy landscape.
Lovering J, Swain M, Blomqvist L, Hernandez RR (2022) PLOS ONE 17(7), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270155.
Comments on: Land use for United States power generation: A critical review of existing metrics with suggestions for going forward (Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2021; 143: 110911).
Hernandez RR, Cagle AE*, Grodsky SM*, Exley G, Jordaan SM (2022) Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112526.
Tradeoffs and Synergies Across Global Climate Change Adaptations in the Food-Energy-Water Nexus.
Torhan S, Grady C, Ajibade I, Galappaththi E, Hernandez RR, Musah-Surugu J, Nunbogu A, Segnon A, Shang Y, Ulibarri N, Campbell D, Joe ET, Peñuelas J, Sardans J (2022) Earth’s Future 10(4), https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EF002201.
Vulnerability of avian populations to renewable energy production.
Conkling TJ, Vander Zanden HB, Allison TD, Diffendorfer JE, Dietsch TV, Duerr AE, Fesnock AL, Hernandez RR, Loss SR, Nelson DM, Sanzenbacher PM, Yee JL, Todd E. Katzner TE (2022) Royal Society Open Science 9(3), https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211558.
2021
Ground-mounted photovoltaic solar parks promote land surface cool islands in arid ecosystems.
Li G, Hernandez RR, Blackburn G, Davies G, Hunt M, Whyatt J, Armstrong A (2021) Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition 1, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rset.2021.100008.
Solar energy development impacts non-bee insect flower-visitors in the Mojave Desert.
Grodsky SM*, Campbell J, Hernandez RR (2021) Biological Conservation 263, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109336.
Scientific and stakeholder evidence-based assessment: ecosystem response to floating solar photovoltaics and implications for sustainability.
Exley G, Hernandez RR, Page T, Chipps M, Gambro S, Hersey M; Lake R, Zoannou KS, Armstrong A (2021) Sustainable Energy Reviews 152, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111639.
Microhabitats associated with solar energy development alter demography of two desert annuals.
Tanner KE*, Moore-O'Leary KA, Parker IM, Pavlik BM, Haji S, Hernandez RR (2021) Ecological Applications 31(6), https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2349.
2020
Aligning climate change and Sustainable Development Goals with an innovation systems roadmap for renewable power.
Hernandez RR^, Jordaan SM^, Kaldunski B, Kumar K (2020) Frontiers in Sustainability 1, https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2020.583090.
The land sparing, water surface use efficiency, and water surface transformation of floating photovoltaic solar energy.
Cagle A*, Armstrong A, Exley G, Grodsky SM*, Macknick J, Sherwin J, Hernandez RR (2020) Sustainability 12(19), https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198154.
Local energy: Spatial proximity of energy providers to their power resources.
Hoffacker MK*, Hernandez RR (2020) Frontiers in Sustainability 1, https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2020.585110.
Integrating environmental understanding into floatovoltaic deployment using an effects hierarchy and decision trees.
Armstrong A, Page T, Thackeray S, Hernandez RR, Jones I (2020)Environmental Research Letters 15(11): 114055, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abbf7b.
Simulated photovoltaic solar panels alter the seed bank survival of two desert annual plant species.
Hernandez RR, Tanner KE*, Haji S, Parker IM, Pavlik BM, Moore-O’Leary KM (2020) Plants 9(9), https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9091125.
Restoring Abandoned Farmland to Mitigate Climate Change on a Full Earth.
Yang Yi, Hobbie SE, Hernandez RR, Fargione J, Grodsky SM*, Tilman D, Zhu Y, Luo Y, Smith TM, Jungers JM, Yang M, Chen W (2020) One Earth 3(2): 176-186, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.07.019.
Reduced ecosystem services of desert plants from ground-mounted solar energy development.
Grodsky SM* and Hernandez RR (2020) Nature Sustainability 3(12): 1036-1043, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0574-x .
Simulated solar panels create altered microhabitats in desert landforms.
Tanner KE*, Moore-O’Leary KA, Parker IM, Pavlik BM, and RR Hernandez (2020) Ecosphere 11, https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3089.
2019
Ground beetle (Carabidae: Coleoptera) response to harvest residue removal: Implications for sustainable forest bioenergy production.
Grodsky SM*, Hernandez RR, Campbell JW, Hinson KR, Keller O, Fritts SR, Homyack JA, and Moorman CE. (2019) Forests (Special Issue: Ecological Insights into the Sustainable Development of Bioenergy from Forests) 11: 48, https://doi.org/10.3390/f11010048.
Techno-ecological synergies of solar energy for global sustainability.
Hernandez RR, Armstrong A, Burney J, Ryan G, Moore-O'Leary K, Diédhiou I, Grodsky SM*, Saul-Gershenz L, Davis R, Macknick J, Mulvaney D, Heath GA, Easter SB, Hoffacker MK, Allen MF, Kammen DM. (2019) Nature Sustainability 2: 560-568, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0309-z.
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2017
Land sparing opportunities for solar energy development in agricultural landscapes: A case study of the Great Central Valley, CA, USA.
Hoffacker MK*, Allen MF, Hernandez RR (2017) Environmental Science and Technology. 51: 14472-14482, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b05110.
Sustainability of utility-scale solar energy - critical ecological concepts.
Moore KA, Hernandez RR, Abella S, Johnston D, Kreitler J, Swanson A, Lovich J (2017) Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 15: 385-394, https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.1517.
From butterflies to bighorns: Multi-dimensional, species-species, and species process interactions may inform sustainable solar energy development in desert ecosystems.
Grodsky SM*, Moore KA, and Hernandez RR (2017) Proceedings of the 31st Annual Desert Symposium (R. L. Reynolds, Ed.). California State University Desert Studies Center. Zzyzx, CA. April 14-15, 2017.
2015
Solar energy development impacts on terrestrial ecosystems.
Hernandez RR, Hoffacker MK*, Murphy-Mariscal M, Wu G, Allen MF (2015) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112: 13579-13584, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1517656112.
Efficient use of land to meet sustainable energy needs.
Hernandez RR, Hoffacker MK*, Field CB (2015) Nature Climate Change 5: 353-358, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2556.
2014
The Land-Use Efficiency of Big Solar.
Hernandez RR, Hoffacker M*, Field CB (2014) Environmental Science and Technology 48(2): 1315-1323, https://doi.org/10.1021/es4043726.
Environmental Impacts of Utility-Scale Solar Energy.
Hernandez RR, Easter S, Murphy-Mariscal M, Maestre F, Allen E, Barrows C, Belnap J, Ochoa-Hueso R, Ravi S, Tavassoli M*, Allen M (2014) Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 29: 766-779, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2013.08.041.