Michael Dunaway ’20
PhD – Department of Natural Resources
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Michael Dunaway is a Ph. D. candidate in the department of Natural Resources at Cornell University. His research is at the nexus of renewable energy systems and Native American sovereignty. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Haskell Indian Nations University in American Indian Studies with and emphasis on decolonization and sovereignty theory. He also earned his Master’s degree in Geography at the University of Kansas with an emphasis on Indigenous Geography and a graduate certificate in Environmental Studies. As a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Michael has committed his academic career giving back to Indigenous communities. He served as a mentor for the Haskell Environmental Research Studies Institute for five years teaching Indigenous undergraduates the skills that they would need to be successful in graduate school. He has also been awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the Alfred P. Sloan Diversity Fellowship. As Michael transitions to becoming a professor, he plans to use his skills and knowledge to help tribes build and maintain renewable energy projects.
