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Mélissa is an award-winning journalist who writes character-driven stories about how the climate crisis affects the human condition: how it transforms us culturally, politically and psychologically. Previously, she has worked for TIME Magazine and the New York Times, with her stories also appearing in the Guardian, the Washington Post, Reuters, among others. In 2021, Mélissa was named an Emerging Climate Journalist of the Year finalist by Covering Climate Now and the Columbia Journalism review.
In what ways does nature inspire or inform your work?
I grew up in the mountains by the Pacific Ocean in Vancouver, Canada, playing in the snow in the winter and spending summers digging up ferns and pine cones from the forest floors. But it was only in my twenties that I realized there was a link between the human rights abuses I was writing about and the changes to the natural environments around us. My goal now is to centre that love for nature in all my stories, to show that our wellbeing, sense of self and ability to live just and fair lives depend on a stable climate.
What does it mean to be part of a thriving ecosystem?
Living in a thriving ecosystem requires humans to respect nature, other species and each other.
