Mackenzie is pursuing her PhD in the Geography Graduate Group at UCD with a Designated Emphasis in Native American Studies.  Her path to reach the trailhead of this new academic adventure has been circuitous.  She began with a multidisciplinary undergraduate degree in Natural Resources at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, then focused on Geological Sciences for her Master’s degree at the University of Oregon, and then pursued a non-academic career.  She returned to academia and her multidisciplinary roots to research various aspects of decision-making related to natural resource management.  Mackenzie's research now focuses on applying theories of the policy process and environmental/collaborative governance informed by Native American and Indigenous scholarship to understand Tribal engagement in the implementation of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and also the role that intertribal organizations play in natural resource management.  In the future, she hopes to delve into the policy processes that have resulted in 1) geographic name changes that remove offensive place names and 2) Indigenous parks or Indigenous co-management of public lands.