Nels Bjarke is post-doctoral researcher affiliated with the Western Water Assessment and CIRES. His primary research encompasses evaluating drought of all forms across North America and the sensitivity of the classification of drought to the non-stationarity of the climate. Nels utilizes multiple streams of hydroclimate data to build tools and datasets that improve our understanding of how climate change has historically and will continue to impact surface water availability. Nels has a M.S. in Earth and Planetary Science from the University of New Mexico and a Ph.D. in Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder.