Audubon Connecticut Policy Potluck Featuring Lights Out Connecticut and the Connecticut Chapter of Dark Sky International.

October 8, 2026

5:30 PM – 8 PM

Join us at Bent of the River for an informational evening with light refreshments and a panel discussion on advocacy efforts to mitigate light pollution and stop bird-window collisions in Connecticut.   

Up to two billion birds are killed in window collisions every year. The deadliest times are during bird migration every Fall and Spring. The two factors are light pollution and glass. Please come to learn about efforts to pass laws and regulations on the local, regional and state levels.

Panelists are:

Leo Smith is the Northeast Regional Director and Connecticut Chapter Chair of DarkSky. He works strategically to protect the night across the United States by integrating Dark Sky lighting principles into national building codes. He developed language used to amend the CT State Building Code to cover parking lot lighting and introduced two code change proposals to NY State Energy Code in 2019. He was a member of the DarkSky International board of directors (2004-2016) and voting member of the Illuminating Engineering Society's Roadway Lighting Committee (2006-2019), serving on its Standard Practice and Residential Street Lighting subcommittees. He is a long-time resident of Suffield, CT.

Misha SemeLev, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, CPHC is an architect whose work explores how human habitats—buildings, cities, and regions—can be built more in harmony with the nature around us and within us. He is currently the Associate University Architect for Sustainability at Yale University, focused on integrating the University's sustainability goals across projects in close collaboration with the Office of Sustainability and other campus partners.He is lucky to call the beautiful Lower Connecticut River Valley his home, one he helps to preserve through his work as Chester representative to the Connecticut River Gateway Commission and advocate for dark skies along the river corridor.

Craig Repasz Lights Out Connecticut  General Director and Co-founder is President of the Friends of Stewart B McKinney NWR, an organization devoted to supporting this important refuge. He was president of the New Haven Bird Club and the conservation chair of the Connecticut Ornithological Association. He has been the volunteer coordinator for the Connecticut Bird Atlas for six years. He enjoys backpacking and has conducted Mountain Birdwatch surveys for the Vermont Center of Ecostudies, focusing on the Bicknell's Thrush and other high elevation species.

This event will take place in our historic barn. Feel free to bring an appetizer of your own. We have limited Handicapped parking by the barn so we ask those who can, to park in our visitor lot and walk up to the barn. This program is free but registration is required for capacity.