Melissa has more than 30 years of student affairs professional experience working in areas of leadership development and residential life. She served as the assistant director for leadership development in the Department of Student Leadership and Involvement at Oregon State University before joining the UO in 2019. During her career, Melissa has gained great experience, knowledge, and skills in areas of leadership development, student engagement, teaching, advising, planning, assessment, and developmental staff supervision and training. She is passionate about collaboratively developing environments, programs, and services that effectively foster transformative experiential learning, helping students to discover their strengths and sense of agency for making a positive difference in the world.

Melissa earned a bachelor’s degree in developmental psychology from Eastern Washington University, and a master’s degree in college student services administration (CSSA) with a minor in training and development/adult education from Oregon State University. She taught and advised in the CSSA graduate program for several years.

When not at work, Melissa enjoys watching HGTV, wine tasting, being crafty, gardening, and spending time with family and friends, including her partner Zach and mini-dachshund Princess Sophie Wienermeister Yamamoto.