About

Melissa is an Assistant Professor in the School for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. She is an interdisciplinary marine conservation scientist, writer, and equity practitioner dedicated to developing and implementing innovative solutions for nature and people, especially in fisheries settings. She is co-founder of FieldFutures, an organization that trains people to prevent harassment and assault in scientific fieldwork, and Mobula Conservation, which leads scientific research and participatory conservation for manta and devil rays in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Links

Honors

The Grants Intensive Fellowship
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (United States, North Dartmouth) - UMD, 2025
Smith Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellowship
Society for Conservation Biology (United States, Washington) - SCB, 2023 - 2025
Explorer
National Geographic Society (United States, Washington) - NGS
Best Talk
North American Congress for Conservation Biology (United States, Milwaukee)
UC Center Sacramento Emerging Scholar Award
UC Center Sacramento(United States, Sacramento)
Graduate Research Fellow
U.S. National Science Foundation (United States, Alexandria) - NSF, 2018 - 2021
Grad Slam Finalist
University of California, Santa Cruz (United States, Santa Cruz) - UCSC, 2020
Grist Climate Fellow
Grist (United States, Seattle), 2016
UCSC PBSci Future Leaders in Coastal Science Award
University of California, Santa Cruz (United States, Santa Cruz) - UCSC, 2019
John E. Skinner Memorial Award
American Fisheries Society (United States, Bethesda) - AFS, 2019
Seymour Center Student Research and Education Award
Seymour Marine Discovery Center(United States, Santa Cruz), 2019
Save Our Shores Keystone Grant
Save Our Shores (United States, Santa Cruz), 2019
Wells Fargo Coastal Sustainability Fellowship
Wells Fargo (United States, San Francisco), 2018

Organizational Affiliations

Department of Fisheries Oceanography, School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Co-Founder & Executive Director, FieldFutures LLC (United States, Santa Cruz)

Co-Founder & Ecuador Director, Mobula Conservation (United States, Santa Cruz)

Founder & Host, Fish Tales Live Storytelling Event

Past Affiliations

Project Lead, Manta and Devil Ray Bycatch Mitigation in Tuna Fisheries , International Seafood Sustainability Foundation

Smith Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellow, Duke University Coasts and Commons Co-Lab

Education

Coastal Science & Policy
2016–2022, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz (United States, Santa Cruz) - UCSC
Environmental Studies and Journalism
2009–2013, Bachelor of Arts (BA), New York University (United States, New York) - NYU