McKalee Steen ( Cherokee Nation)

University of California, Berkeley

Junior U.S. National Student Representative

November 2020-November 2022

McKalee Steen, a member of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, grew up on a farm in the northeastern corner of the state. It was on this farm that her parents and grandparents instilled in her a deep respect and care for the environment. In May 2020, she graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in Earth and Environmental Science and minors in English and

Environmental Sustainability Studies. She is now a first year PhD student at the University of California Berkeley in the Environmental Science, Policy, and Management department. Her current research interests include land use and land use change, and the environmental and ecological impacts of Indigenous land management practices. Through all of her work, she hopes to give back to Indian Country and leave things better than she found them. McKalee is passionate about storytelling - old and new, poetic and scientific - and incorporates this into her work and hobbies.