Natasha Myhal

Natasha Myhal is a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and serves as a Provost's Fellow and Assistant Professor of Indigenous Environmental Studies in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University. She is also a collaborative faculty member in the American Indian Studies program. Prior to her position at Ohio State, she was the 2022-2023 Henry Roe Cloud Dissertation Fellow at Yale University.

Her educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Critical Ethnic Studies with a concentration in Native American and Indigenous Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder (2023)
• M.A. in Indigenous Studies from the University of Kansas (2017)
• B.A. in American Indian Studies & Environmental Studies from the University of Minnesota, Morris (2015)

Dr. Myhal's research and teaching focus on three key areas: Anishinaabe practices of mino-bimaadiziwin (living well), contemporary Indigenous governance, and environmental restoration and cultural practices. As a Critical Indigenous Studies scholar, her work is shaped by storytelling and place-based knowledges, examining how colonialism—both historical and ongoing—has increased challenges Indigenous communities face, such as climate change. Her scholarship aims to support Indigenous and Native American Tribal Nations' agency and sovereignty through collaborative research methods that center Indigenous perspectives and knowledge systems.

Her publications demonstrate a consistent focus on Indigenous environmental knowledge, ethnobotany, and the intersection of traditional ecological knowledge with contemporary environmental challenges. Her work often examines the dynamics of appropriation, settler colonialism, and the importance of relational approaches to environmental restoration and management, particularly through her research on Anishinaabe knowledge systems and more-than-human relations.

Her notable awards and fellowships include:

• National Science Foundation Fellowship
• Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies Fellowship
• The Cobell Scholarship Fund Fellowship
• Intertribal Timber Council Fellowship
• 2022-2023 Henry Roe Cloud Dissertation Fellow at Yale University

Dr. Myhal engages in community-based research, particularly through her work with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Tribal Natural Resources Department and their Nmé (Lake Sturgeon) Stewardship Program. Her research methodology emphasizes collaborative and community-based approaches that respect and center Indigenous knowledge systems and governance structures. She has received multiple research grants supporting her work at the intersection of Indigenous studies, environmental science, and decolonial methodologies.

Her current research brings into focus the important relations between Indigenous space time, political ecologies, and the agency of more-than-human beings, particularly through her community-engaged work with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Tribal Natural Resources Department and their Nmé (Lake Sturgeon) Stewardship Program.