Melanie Cootsona's research centers on the American Southwest in New Mexico; working collaboratively with Picuris Pueblo in the Northern Rio Grande. Her research focuses on the early Spanish Colonial period, social zooarchaeology, and community-based methods. She is particularly interested in the inter-Indigenous interactions in the Southwest, animal-human-plant relationships, and survivance. Previous work included cultural resource management experience in Northern California, and undergraduate thesis work at Pot Creek Pueblo, an ancestral pueblo of Taos and Picuris Pueblos.