Megan Tyrrell

After serving at the North Atlantic LCC's Coastal Resilience Coordinator since 2014, Megan Tyrrell accepted a new position as the Research Coordinator for the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve based in Woods Hole, Mass., beginning October 2016. During her time with the LCC, Megan coordinated three cohorts of Hurricane Sandy projects focusing on tidal marsh, beach/barrier island, and aquatic connectivity, which amounted to approximately $5 million worth of monitoring, research and modeling. The products and information resulting from these projects are now being disseminated to target users through workshops, presentations at scientific meetings, and written materials, and are helping to strengthen the network of practitioners and resources in the realm of coastal resilience.

"In less than two years, I witnessed the rapid maturation of the coastal resilience community of practice,” said Megan. “I have reasonable expectations that when the next large coastal storm strikes, both the human and ecological communities will be more resilient to its impacts.”

Before coming to the LCC, Megan was the research and monitoring coordinator for Cape Cod National Seashore (National Park Service). She has postdoctoral research experience in salt marsh ecology from Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve in Wells ME and she assessed the effects of predation mortality on fisheries population model outputs at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, MA. She received her Ph.D. in zoology from the University of New Hampshire in 2002 and was a NOAA Coastal Service’s Center fellow with MA Coastal Zone Management for two years after completing graduate school.

Coastal Resiliency Relevant Publications

Tyrrell, M.C., C.S. Thornber, J.A. Burhkardt and M. Congretel. The influence of salt marsh fucoid algae (ecads) on sediment dynamics of northwest Atlantic marshes. Estuaries and Coasts. In press.

Lellis-Dibble, K., M. Tyrrell and P.S. Pooler. 2014. Factors that drive restoration of nekton communities in impaired salt marshes of northeastern North America. Estuaries and Coasts DOI:10.1007/s12237-014-9794-5.

Smith, S.M., M.C. Tyrrell, and M. Congretel. 2013. Palatability of salt marsh forbs and grasses to the purple marsh crab (Sesarma reticulatum) and the potential for re-vegetation of herbivory-induced salt marsh dieback areas in Cape Cod (Massachusetts, USA). Wetlands Ecol Manage. DOI: 10.1007/s11273-013-9298-2.

Tyrrell, M.C., M. Dionne, and S.A. Eberhardt. 2012. Salt marsh fucoid algae: overlooked ecosystem engineers of north temperate salt marshes. Estuaries and Coasts. 35:754-762.

Smith, S.M., K.C. Medeiros, and M. Tyrrell. 2012. Hydrology, herbivory, and the decline of Spartina patens (Aiton) Muhl. in outer Cape Cod salt marshes (Massachusetts, USA).  Journal of Coastal Research. 28(3): 602-612.

Smith, S.M. and M.C. Tyrrell. 2011. Effects of mud fiddler crabs (Uca pugnax) on the recruitment of halophyte seedlings in salt marsh dieback areas of Cape Cod (Massachusetts, USA). Ecological Research. doi:10.1007/s11284-011-0886-4.