Dr. Wendy Stout is a distinguished leader in geospatial technology, instructional design, and coastal resilience with over 25 years of cross-sector experience. As Director of the Virginia Tech Coastal Collaborator Center, she leads high-impact coastal initiatives for federal agencies including NASA, NOAA, and the DOD, as well as tribal nations and local governments — providing a gateway for Virginia Tech’s interdisciplinary faculty research capacity to match emerging coastal resilience challenges with land-grant extension solutions through collaborative academia–industry partnerships.

Her current leadership is validated by a 61% grant success rate, having helped secure over $24M in research funding as PI, Co-PI, or collaborator across 15 major grant-funded initiatives, including $1.6M awarded directly to the Coastal Collaborator Center to drive regional resilience and equitable climate adaptation.

Her expertise is rooted in a significant tenure with the Commonwealth of Virginia, where she served as the Acting State GIS Coordinator (Geographic Information Officer), the formal owner of authoritative state geospatial data, and manager of the $2.4M Virginia Base Mapping Program, achieving substantial taxpayer savings through strategic contract negotiation. She continues to shape state policy as a gubernatorial appointee to the VGIN Advisory Board and the Governor’s Coastal Resilience Technical Advisory Committee, and is globally recognized for her expertise as a Fulbright Specialist (2026–2028) and APEC TVET delegate. Her career is defined by the integration of emerging technologies — GeoAI, 3D visualization, and LiDAR — to bridge the gap between academic research and coastal community resilience.