Curriculum Vitae

Education & Awards

Ph.D. (In progress) University of California, Santa Barbara

Regents in Linguistics Fellowship Recipient

M.A. (2024) University of New Mexico 

Department of Linguistics

Robert W. Young Scholarship 2024 Recipient 

Thesis: Negation in Dene Languages

B.A. (2021) University of Southern California

Major in Linguistics & Major in Latin American and Iberian Cultures, Media and Politics 

Publications

Chee , Melvatha R., Tamera Yazzie, Ryan Smith, Bethany Lycan, Cormac League & Alec Goldberg. 2025. Prioritizing community-researcher relationships to vitalize child language research [Indigenous Language Rights & Realities. 1: 30-48]. Language Documentation & Conservation. https://hdl.handle.net/10125/75043

Yazzie, T., Lycan, B., Smith,  R., League, C., & Chee, M. "2024 Indigenous Child Language Research Center Handbook." (2024). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/iclrc/3

Conference Talks & Posters

Hecht, J., League, C., Russel, K., Wyatt, S.,  &  Yazzie, S. (2024) Saad Ahínéiitį́į́h – A Diné Card Game. Workshop on American Indigenous Languages. University of California Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara, California. 

League, C. (2023) Evolution of Negation in Athabaskan Languages. Yerevan Academy for Linguistics and Philosophy. American University of Armenia. Yerevan, Armenia.  

Chee, M., League, C., Yazzie, C., &  Yazzie, T. (2023) Advancing community based Indigenous child language research. Conference on Indigenous Science and Language. Missoula, Montana. 

Chee, M., League. C., & Yazzie, T. (2023) Supporting community driven Indigenous child language research. (Indigenous Child Language Research Center at the University of New Mexico). Symposium on American Indian Languages. University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. 

Smith, C., González Izquierdo, J., League, C., Macneil, W., Minke, J., Pinto Silva, B., Strohl, G., & Wyatt, S. (2022) Potential Transfer of L1 English Stress Patterns of L2 French Cognates. High Desert Linguistics Society. University of New Mexico. Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Professional Memberships & Research Affiliations

Linguistic Society of America 

Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas 

Foundation for Endangered Languages 

Lobo Language Acquisition Lab, University of New Mexico (2022 – 2024)

Indigenous Child Language Research Center, University of New Mexico (2022 – 2024)