  The Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB)-based distance method in the I band is
one of the most efficient and precise techniques for measuring distances to
nearby galaxies (D <= 15 Mpc). The TRGB in the near infrared (NIR) is 1 to 2
magnitudes brighter relative to the I band, and has the potential to expand the
range over which distance measurements to nearby galaxies are feasible. Using
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging of 12 fields in 8 nearby galaxies, we
determine color-based corrections and zero points of the TRGB in the Wide Field
Camera 3 IR (WFC3/IR) F110W and F160W filters. First, we measure TRGB distances
in the I band equivalent Advanced Camera System (ACS) F814W filter from
resolved stellar populations with the HST. The TRGB in the ACS F814W filter is
used for our distance anchor and to place the WFC3/IR magnitudes on an absolute
scale. We then determine the color dependence (a proxy for metallicity/age) and
zero point of the NIR TRGB from photometry of WFC3/IR fields which overlap with
the ACS fields. The new calibration is accurate to ~1% in distance, relative to
the F814W TRGB. Validating the accuracy of the calibrations, we find that the
distance modulus for each field using the NIR TRGB calibration agrees with the
distance modulus of the same fields as determined from the F814W TRGB. This is
a JWST preparatory program and the work done here will directly inform our
approach to calibrating the TRGB in JWST NIRCam and NIRISS photometric filters.
