Melissa is a graduate student in Tulane’s Disaster Resilience Leadership program and previously spent 20 years designing and conducting deep leadership development and participatory change processes in organizations and communities in Texas. As a research assistant, she supports CEDR program design and research projects.

Melissa once rode on the roof of a train that derailed in the mountains of Ecuador, survived, and has recently been unexpectedly converted into an oyster lover here in New Orleans.