About the Founder

From 2010 through 2020, Melissa was a research microbiologist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, working to identify signatures of life on other planets in our solar system. She specialized in biogeochemistry and the ecology of bacteria and archaea from extreme earth environments, using that knowledge to identify biosignatures that could be found from extant life on other planets. There she received recognition for her work with the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) team for the work that instrument is conducting aboard the Curiosity Rover on Mars.

Prior to her work at NASA, Melissa worked at American Type Culture Collection, the premier biological resource and standards organization. While there, her research focused primarily on the microbial ecology and community geochemistry of iron-oxidizing bacteria. This research into these organisms has proven critical in understanding the science and engineering that drives Peatland Technologies’ work.

Early in her career, Melissa worked for the World Bank Group, the United States Treasury Department, and Tetra Tech. She holds a B.S. from Oberlin College in Russian Language and Literature and an M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from George Mason University.