Keli Pirtle Tarp is Public Affairs Specialist for the five National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Partners in Norman, Okla.: National Severe Storms Laboratory, Storm Prediction Center, National Weather Service Norman Forecast Office, NEXRAD Radar Operations Center and Warning Decision Training Branch. She handles media relations, external and internal communication programs and special events.
With NOAA since January 1999, she previously served as Public Relations Director for the Norman Chamber of Commerce. Her career has included public relations positions with a community college and a grocery chain in Texas.
Keli earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Baylor University and attended The University of Maryland’s graduate program in journalism and public relations. In August 2005, she completed a master’s degree in communication from The University of Oklahoma.
A past president of the Public Relations Society of America, Oklahoma City Chapter, she earned accreditation (APR) from PRSA in 1997 and re-accreditation in 2000, and has won several Upper Case Awards for writing and publications. She received a NOAA Administrator’s Award in 2002.
Keli’s husband, Casey, is an architect and their daughter attends Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, Texas.