Email lyle@vims.edu Office Waterman 234 Phone (804) 684-7764

Lyle Varnell Assistant Director for Advisory Services Office of Research and Advisory Services M.S. Biological Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA B.S. Biology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN

Current Projects Selected Publications

Current Projects

• Chesapeake Bay Dune Systems: Evolution and Status. An historical and current analysis of beach and dune resources in the lower Chesapeake Bay.
• Determining design criteria for the restoration of sandy shorelines in fetch limited environments.

Selected Publications

• Varnell, L.M., D.A. Evans, D.M. Bilkovic, and J.E. Olney. 2008. Estuarine surface water allocation: a case study on the interactive role of science in support of management. Environmental Science & Policy 11, 602-612.
• Olney, J.E., D.M. Bilkovic,, C.H. Hershner, L.M. Varnell, H. Wang and R.L. Mann. 2006. Six fish and 600,000 thirsty folks - a fishing moratorium on American shad thwarts a controversial municipal reservoir project in Virginia, USA. 4th World Fish Congress Proceedings. 587-597.
• McElfish, J.M., Jr. and L.M. Varnell. 2006. Designing environmental indicator systems for public decisions. Columbia Journal of Environmental Law 31(1), 45-86.
• Varnell, L.M. and C.S. Hardaway, Jr. 2005. A risk assessment approach to management of estuarine dune fields. Ocean & Coastal Management 48: 767-781.
• Varnell, L.M., and D.W. Weiss. 2004. Virginia Nontidal Wetlands Impacts Data [online]. Available http://ccrm.vims.edu/wetlands/nontidal_impacts.html
• Varnell, L.M., D.A. Evans, and K.J. Havens. 2002. A geomorphological model of intertidal cove marshes with application to wetlands management. Ecological Engineering 19(5): 339-347.
• Hardaway, C.S., Jr., L.M. Varnell, D.A. Milligan, W.I. Priest, G.R. Thomas, and R.C.H. Brindley. 2002. An integrated habitat enhancement approach to shoreline stabilization for a Chesapeake Bay island community. Wetlands Ecology and Management 10: 289-302.
• Havens, K.J., L.M. Varnell, and B.D. Watts. 2002. Maturation of a constructed tidal marsh relative to two natural reference tidal marshes over 12 years. Ecological Engineering 18(3): 305-315.
• Varnell, L.M., G. Anderson and D. Weiss. 1998. Virginia tidal Wetlands Impacts Data [online]. Available http://ccrm.vims.edu/wetlands/tidal.html
• Varnell, L.M. 1998. The relationship between inundation history and baldcypress stem form in a Virginia floodplain swamp. Wetlands 18(2). 176-183.
• Varnell, L.M. and K.J. Havens. 1995. A comparison of dimension-adjusted catch data methods for assessment of fish and crab abundance in intertidal salt marshes. Estuaries 18(2): 319- 325.
• Varnell, L.M., K.J. Havens and C. Hershner. 1995. Daily variability in abundance and population characteristics of tidal salt marsh fauna. Estuaries 18(2): 326-334.
• Havens, K.J., L.M. Varnell and J.G. Bradshaw. 1995. An assessment of ecological conditions between a constructed tidal marsh and two natural reference tidal marshes in Virginia. Ecological Engineering 4(2): 117-141.