Melanie Mackay is a PhD student at the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering at UBC. She is a member of the Neskonlith Indian Band, Secwepemc Nation and a professional geoscientist with almost twenty years of experience in the mining industry, and ten years of research experience with the Canadian Carbonization Research Association. Her research focuses on methods for evaluating metallurgical coal, carbonization, critical elements in coal mine and steelmaking waste, and First Nations mining history and traditional uses of rocks and minerals. She is the recipient of the 2023 Coal Association of Canada Award of Distinction, and her research is supported by a fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.