Melissa K. Nelson, PhD
Melissa K. Nelson is a mixed-raced Native American ecologist and activist-scholar. She earned her Ph.D. in ecology with an emphasis in Native American Studies at the University of California, Davis. Melissa works for Indigenous rights, revitalization, and community well-being in higher education, nonprofits, and philanthropy.
Melissa K. Nelson is a mixed-raced Native American ecologist and activist-scholar. She earned her PhD in ecology with an emphasis in Native American Studies at the University of California, Davis. Melissa works for Indigenous rights, revitalization, and community well-being in higher education, nonprofits, and philanthropy. Formerly a professor of American Indian Studies at San Francisco State University, she now serves as professor of Indigenous Sustainability at Arizona State University in the School of Sustainability. From 1993 to 2021, Melissa served as the founding executive director and CEO of the Cultural Conservancy and continues to serve as president of their board. She is the co-editor of and contributor to Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Learning from Indigenous Practices for Environmental Sustainability published (2018) and What Kind of Ancestor Do you Want to be? (2021). She is also the editor of and a contributor to Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future (2008). Melissa is Anishinaabe/Métis/Norwegian, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
