The CPO-led National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Program Office is pleased to welcome Crystal Stiles as the Tribal Engagement Coordinator. Crystal started at NIDIS on August 2, 2021 through NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU-Boulder. Crystal will be working to implement NIDIS' Tribal Drought Engagement Strategy across its network of 8 regional drought early warning systems.
For the past 7 years, Crystal Stiles was an Applied Climatologist with the High Plains Regional Climate Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) where she directed both the stakeholder and tribal engagement programs. She also worked on projects with the National Drought Mitigation Center. Crystal received her Ph.D. in Natural Resource Sciences with a specialization in Climate Assessment and Impacts from UNL, and her B.S. in Geography (Meteorology-Climatology track) and M.S. in Geoscience from Western Kentucky University. Crystal's graduate work focused on drought impacts and drought planning.