Kyle Stafford is a geologist working in environmental consulting for the mining industry. He attended New Mexico Tech from 2017 to 2024, earning both a Bachelor’s in Earth Science and a Master’s in Mineral Engineering with a specialization in Mineral Exploration. Kyle began working for the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources in 2021, working under Dr. Virginia McLemore’s Economic Geology Group. During his time there, he used GIS to prepare a mineral-resource potential assessment of BLM parcels in Southwest New Mexico and worked on various USGS Earth MRI projects to investigate critical minerals. His thesis, on the geochronology of Laramide and mid-Tertiary mineral deposits in New Mexico known to host critical minerals, was published in 2024. He is currently employed with Telesto Solutions Inc., an environmental consulting company, out of their Silver City, New Mexico office.