About

Lynn Resler is associated with the Center for Geospatial Information Technology (CGIT) at Virginia Tech, which collaborates across research, education, and outreach with a transdisciplinary approach, addressing complex problems with geospatial science. The center focuses on applying geospatial science to improve quality of life, environment, and community through smart decision making, utilizing extensive knowledge in Geographic Information Systems to provide powerful geospatial tools with user-friendly interfaces. CGIT's research involves transforming spatial data into secure, intuitive decision-making tools that empower agencies, researchers, and communities across the Commonwealth, with applications ranging from highway safety and crash analysis to statewide broadband and environmental initiatives.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Geography
• Physical geography
• Political Science
• Computer Security
• Geology
• Operations research
• Cartography
• Ecology
• Risk analysis (engineering)
• Business
• Psychology
• Pedagogy
• Biology
• Archaeology
• Environmental planning
• Medical education
• Engineering
• Medicine
• Environmental resource management
• Geomorphology
• Environmental science

Selected publications

• Unseen challenges to Arctic food security: the role of non-climatic factors in a changing climate

  Regional Environmental Change · 2026-03-17

  articleOpen access

  Abstract This study examines how non-climatic factors, such as loss of land rights and economic barriers, exacerbate the impacts of climate change on the food security of Arctic Indigenous Peoples. Given the limited assessment of interaction between non-climatic factors and climate impacts on the pan-Arctic scale, this research aims to identify (1) geographical distribution of research focusing on the non-climatic factors and adaptation strategies shaping food security, (2) non-climatic factors and their interactions exacerbating climate impacts on food security, and (3) adaptive capacities to the impacts of non-climatic factors and their interactions on food security. A systematic literature review of 170 peer-reviewed articles synthesized existing knowledge from four databases: Web of Science, Scopus, AGRICOLA, and CAB Direct. Qualitative content analysis was done to identify non-climatic factors, their impacts on food security, and adaptive capacities, whereas descriptive and chi-square statistics were used to reveal trends, patterns, and significance of their interactions. First, we found there is a lack of research focus on local-level Indigenous Peoples’ food security in Norway, Sweden, and Finland compared to other pan-Arctic countries. Second, impacts of seven dominant themes of non-climatic factors: institutional, economic, socio-cultural/behavioral, infrastructural, technological, health, and other on six dimensions of food security were identified. Third, adaptation to non-climatic factors existed through food sharing, livelihood diversification, and migration, although ineffective adaptation causes maladaptation. By identifying vulnerabilities to food security and adaptive capacities, this study provides policymakers with insights on research gaps, impacts of non-climatic factors, and opportunities to improve adaptation and reduce maladaptation in pan-Arctic context.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Vegetation Succession Patterns at Sperry Glacier’s Foreland, Glacier National Park, MT, USA

  Land · 2025-02-02 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Plant colonization patterns on deglaciated terrain give insight into the factors influencing alpine ecosystem development. Our objectives were to use a chronosequence, extending from the Little Ice Age (~1850) terminal moraine to the present glacier terminus, and biophysical predictors to characterize vegetation across Sperry Glacier’s foreland—a mid-latitude cirque glacier in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. We measured diversity metrics (i.e., richness, evenness, and Shannon’s diversity index), percent cover, and community composition in 61 plots. Field observations characterized drainage, concavity, landform features, rock fragments, and geomorphic process domains in each plot. GIS-derived variables contextualized the plots’ aspect, terrain roughness, topographic position, solar radiation, and curvature. Overall, vegetation cover and species richness increased with terrain age, but with colonization gaps compared to other forelands, likely due to extensive bedrock and slow soil development, potentially putting this community at risk of being outpaced by climate change. Generalized linear models revealed the importance of local site factors (e.g., drainage, concavity, and process domain) in explaining species richness and Shannon’s diversity patterns. The relevance of field-measured variables over GIS-derived variables demonstrated the importance of fieldwork in understanding alpine successional patterns and the need for higher-resolution remote sensing analyses to expand these landscape-scale studies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Experiential Learning on the Antarctic Peninsula: Student Reflections on a Scientific Study Abroad Program

  2024-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The publishing process and getting your work into print

  2024-11-27

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  In this essay, we share information, advice, and experience to help you navigate the academic publishing process. We outline the publishing process and provide tips for getting your scholarship into print, with an emphasis on refereed journal articles. Each author then provides an individual’s narrative that describes their personal publishing strategies, along with tips for publishing within human geography, physical geography, and GIScience. Finally, we will touch upon the growing landscape of publishing popular academic pieces. We acknowledge that writing is at the crux of publishing, and its many nuances and strategies are treated separately in Chapter 17. As a Ph.D. student or early career academic, you embark on a long-term relationship with publishing. In this essay, we share information, advice, and experience to help you navigate the academic publishing process – from getting a single manuscript into print to strategizing publishing throughout your career. We first outline the publishing process and provide tips for getting your scholarship into print, emphasizing refereed journal articles. Each author then describes tips for strategizing publishing within the social sciences, physical/environmental sciences, and GIScience. Finally, we will touch upon the growing landscape of publishing popular academic pieces.

  PublisherDOI

• Patterns of native and invasive lianas of Virginia's Ridge and Valley forests in relation to land use history

  Southeastern geographer · 2024-07-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Lianas, or woody vines, are an often-overlooked component of forested ecosystems. Studies exploring how lianas are influenced by historical land use are scarce, particularly in temperate regions. We aimed to 1) characterize the composition, abundance, and diversity of native and non-native lianas in southwest Virginia, and 2) explain variations in the number of lianas per plot based on historical land use categories and edge or interior location. We collected data on 1303 lianas across 102 study plots, within four historical land use categories: mining, logging, agriculture, or rural townsite. We used historical records and legacy U.S. Geological Survey Topographic Maps from the Historical Topographic Map Collection to define the spatial extents of each land use type. We found 42.5% of measured trees hosted at least one liana. Native lianas were more abundant and diverse than non-native lianas within our study plots. Furthermore, historical land use, particularly in formerly logged plots, was associated with lower liana counts compared to other land use classes. Although knowledge about lianas in the mountainous regions of the Southeastern United States remains limited, it is evident that the complex historical land use legacy in our study region significantly impacts liana prevalence.

  PublisherDOI

• Patterns of Native and Invasive Lianas of Virginia's Ridge and Valley Forests in Relation to Land Use History

  Southeastern geographer · 2024-11-07

  article1st authorCorresponding

  abstract: Lianas, or woody vines, are an often-overlooked component of forested ecosystems. Studies exploring how lianas are influenced by historical land use are scarce, particularly in temperate regions. We aimed to 1) characterize the composition, abundance, and diversity of native and non-native lianas in southwest Virginia, and 2) explain variations in the number of lianas per plot based on historical land use categories and edge or interior location. We collected data on 1303 lianas across 102 study plots, within four historical land use categories: mining, logging, agriculture, or rural townsite. We used historical records and legacy U.S. Geological Survey Topographic Maps from the Historical Topographic Map Collection to define the spatial extents of each land use type. We found 42.5% of measured trees hosted at least one liana. Native lianas were more abundant and diverse than non-native lianas within our study plots. Furthermore, historical land use, particularly in formerly logged plots, was associated with lower liana counts compared to other land use classes. Although knowledge about lianas in the mountainous regions of the Southeastern United States remains limited, it is evident that the complex historical land use legacy in our study region significantly impacts liana prevalence.

  PublisherDOI

• Geomorphological Studies from Remote Sensing

  2024-10-30

  book-chapterSenior author

  Remote sensing analysis has provided important insights into geomorphic systems and landforms through its analytical capabilities and data integration capacities (Torre et al., 2024; Zangana et al., 2023; Misra, 2022; Conforti et al., 2021; Lausch et al., 2020; Langat et al., 2019; Nie et al., 2018; Dikpal et al., 2017; Rajaveni et al., 2017). This chapter reviews the role of remotely sensed imagery in geomorphic inquiry, initially through a historical overview of contributions of aerial imagery to understanding geomorphological systems at varied spatial and temporal scales.

  PublisherDOI

• Designing Virtual Pathways for Exploring Glacial Landscapes of Glacier National Park, Montana, USA for Physical Geography Education

  Education Sciences · 2024-03-05 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  Virtual field trips in physical geography transcend our human limitations regarding distance and accessibility, allowing students to experience exemplars of physical environments. These experiences can be critical for students to connect to the physical world beyond traditional classroom formats of communicating themes and features in physical geography. To maximize the learning potential of these experiences, designers must engage in a translational process to take resources and content from the physical world and migrate it to an online, virtual format. However, these virtual learning experiences need to account for how learners learn; and should draw heavily on the foundations of educational research and field sciences, while highlighting the awe and beauty of the natural landscape itself. Crafting these spatial stories of the natural world with learning elements requires careful and intentional design to maximize the perception of physical features, patterns, and processes at the landscape scale. To help field-trip developers comprehend the workflows used to create perceptible, rich environments that spur students’ learning, we propose a development process (TECCUPD) as a guide to navigate the intersection of education and science, using an example of geodiversity and alpine glacial landscapes found in Glacier National Park, Montana.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A horizon scan for novel and impactful areas of physical geography research in 2023 and beyond

  Progress in Physical Geography Earth and Environment · 2023-12-26 · 9 citations

  article

  This editorial reports on a horizon scan exercise that was undertaken to identify new frontier topics, new or emerging themes/concepts, or new philosophical questions of relevance to physical geography. Researchers with broad geographical and disciplinary scope, all of whom were members of the journal's editorial board or editorial advisory board, were invited to join a horizon scan panel. The horizon scan Chair canvassed panel members for ideas, resulting in an initial 32 independently proposed topics. Similar topics were merged by the Chair, and panel members were then invited to vote on and score anonymously the remaining 28 topics, bearing in mind the perceived importance/relevance and novelty for the discipline. The final ranking and sifting phase produced a list of 12 topics, which were categorised as being either new study areas or new epistemological frameworks for physical geography. In this editorial, we outline these 12 topics, some of which have been inspired by developments outside of the discipline, but we identify how potentially fertile contributions could be added by physical geographers. We discuss how new studies of extreme event geographies, the impacts of compound stressors, cross-system pollution and toxicity, the geomorphological basis of zoonoses, ancient environmental DNA, the projection and visualisation of landscape futures, and planetary sciences can all benefit from additional physical geography perspectives. We then consider the ways in which physical geographers may engage further with new approaches in personalised and internet-of-things monitoring, artificial intelligence, innovative technologies for teaching physical geography, the study of human-climate impacts, and the raising of the profile of physical geography thinking alongside other knowledge forms. We encourage more physical geographers to apply their unique skillsets and ways of thinking to these topics. The journal will welcome new submissions, or proposals for special issues, that address these topics from physical geographers and their colleagues.

  PublisherDOI

• Landfast sea ice break out patterns in the northern Bering Sea observed from C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar

  International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation · 2023-01-11 · 6 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Arctic sea ice is declining in areal extent and seasonal duration, affecting stable landfast sea ice regimes. These landfast ice regimes are vital platforms for local indigenous subsistence hunters and epontic primary production species supporting local and regional food webs. Under changing thermodynamic and mechanical stresses, landfast ice can become more prone to break out events - unexpected mid-season detachments from the coastline. However, the prevalence of break out events in the landfast ice annual cycle on an interannual and decadal basis is generally understudied. Here, we detect and quantify landfast ice break-out events at St. Lawrence Island in the Northern Bering Sea. We accomplished this using C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery to detect landfast ice cover. We also advanced a geospatial analysis method to identify break-out events and distinguish such occurrences from end-of-season breakups. Results reveal that 35 break-outs occurred across four sections of the St. Lawrence Island coastline from 1996 − 2019, with 74 % of break-outs occurring on the northern coastlines. Break-outs generally occurred during annual cycles with higher than average landfast ice cover. During the break-out events, maximum temperatures seldom exceed conditions promoting melt, whereas wind speeds are, on average, 2 m/s faster compared to end-of-season breakup events. However, additional datasets are needed to understand better the influence of tidal amplitude and ocean currents on detected break-out occurrence and location. Our study provides the basis for future research to understand break-out events in landfast ice annual cycles at fine spatial scales unavailable in existing sea ice datasets.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• George P. Malanson

  University of Iowa

  20 shared

• Diana F. Tomback

  14 shared

• David R. Butler

  Texas State University

  13 shared

• James B. Campbell

  6 shared

• Yang Shao

  Virginia Tech

  5 shared

• Korine N. Kolivras

  Virginia Tech

  4 shared

• Laurence W. Carstensen

  4 shared

• Daniel B. Fagre

  Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

  4 shared

Labs

• Center for Geospatial Information TechnologyPI

  Not provided

Awards & honors

• 2019 Distinguished Alumnus Award, Texas State University, De…
• 2019 Silver Star Award, Texas State University, Department o…
• 2005 J. Warren Nystrom Award, American Association of Geogra…