Suzanne Estes (Chickasaw/Choctaw and western European) grew up in Chickasaw Nation territory of southeastern Oklahoma where she earned an undergraduate degree in Biology. As a first-generation college student, she benefited from the support of the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, which helped convince her to apply for graduate school. She has been a guest in Oregon since 1997 when she began the Biology PhD program at the University of Oregon. Following a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship at Oregon State University, she joined the faculty of Portland State University's Biology Department in 2005. Dr. Estes' research has addressed the role of mutation in evolution and mitochondrial-nuclear coevolution. She has taught courses in genetics, evolution and grant proposal development, and spent five years as the grant PI and Program Coordinator for PSU's Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP program). This program supports Native and BIPOC STEM majors by providing social, academic and career development support and opportunities. This work informs that of her current position in CLAS where she helped to build and continues to support the LSAMP Climate Internship Program. Dr. Estes is particularly passionate about supporting future Indigenous leaders and uplifting Indigenous traditional ecological and cultural knowledge (ITECK) alongside western sciences. The latter has included community-engaged design efforts for PSU's Vernier Science Center and ITECK Center capital projects.