Denise Keele Ph.D.

Having been a farmer, a forester, a grassroots organizer, a political scientist, and a professor, Denise Keele brings a holistic understanding of the need to rapidly reverse global warming to her role as Executive Director of the Michigan Climate Action Network. Denise received her doctorate in Environmental Politics from Syracuse University and was an Associate Professor of Political Science at Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her research and teaching focused on environmental policy and law, particularly on using the courts and interest groups to influence public policy.

At WMU, Denise chaired the interdisciplinary Climate Change Working Group from 2014 to 2022, bringing over one hundred faculty, students, and staff together to create and implement several academic and outreach programs, including a minor in climate change studies. She served on the Kalamazoo Township Climate Committee and the City of Kalamazoo Sustainability Committee, and as a Board of Trustee with the Kalamazoo Nature Center, led the development of a climate action plan with a carbon neutrality goal of 2035. From 2019 to 2022, she founded and led the grassroots Kalamazoo Climate Crisis Coalition, coordinating more than 2000 members and 40 affiliate organizations to take collective action and address climate change.

For Denise, a leading priority is inspiring, educating, and connecting people—particularly by assessing how policy aligns with lived experience. Before her tenure as director, Keele was honored with its inaugural Climate Champion award in 2021.