Liz Payton, NCA5 water chapter lead

Science service: Liz Payton, CIRES Western Water Assessment, was the water chapter lead author for the Fifth National Climate Assessment Report (NCA5). Her role as NCA5 chapter lead required it all: scientific expertise, superb organizational skills, diplomacy, and the ability to engineer plain language to communicate complex ideas—not to mention navigating the ins and outs of the federal government. Since the report's release in November 2023, Liz has conducted extensive outreach with resource managers, professional groups, and the media to share the results broadly. Through it all, she has represented CIRES and Western Water Assessment by sharing important scientific research and synthesizing information in ways that will be truly impactful for many years to come.