Mélissa is an award-winning journalist who writes character-driven stories at the intersection of climate and human rights. She has previously reported for TIME Magazine, the Guardian and the New York Times.

In 2021, Mélissa was named an Emerging Climate Journalist of the Year finalist by Covering Climate Now and the Columbia Journalism review for her “refreshingly original topics, assiduous reporting and lively characters, resulting in journalism that teaches but also delights”. Her documentary, Daughters of Drought, about how climate change impacts Malawian women won for Best Short Documentary at the Toronto International Women Film Festival. Previously, Mélissa has received awards and grants from National Geographic, the United Nations Foundation, the Society of Environmental Journalists, One World Media, among others. Her writing has also been published in No Planet B, a collection on climate justice by Haymarket Books. 

Alongside journalism, Mélissa works as a lecturer at Sciences Po. She holds degrees in human rights and global development from New York University, Sciences Po Paris, and the University of Oxford where she attended as a Rhodes Scholar.