Melissa May joined the MSI team in 2022 after 10 years working downstream in the Animas and San Juan Watersheds at the San Juan Soil & Water Conservation District in Aztec, New Mexico. Melissa grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended Penn State University where she earned her B.S. in Environmental Resource Management and M.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science through the School of Forestry's interdisciplinary Watershed Stewardship Program. She moved to the Southwest in 2011 as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer and has since served in basically every organizational role from volunteer to manager- spanning water quality technician, environmental educator, grant writer, project manager, and director. Highlights from Melissa's work with San Juan SWCD include leading the development of the Lower Animas Watershed Based Plan with MSI, the infamous "Who Pooped in the River?" microbial source tracking study, and facilitating numerous successful collaboratives with local, state, and federal partners in her 6 years as District Manager. Melissa has lived in Durango since 2015, and can usually be found playing ultimate frisbee or out exploring nature- especially hiking and birdwatching around the mountains, deserts, and rivers of the Southwest.
Contact Melissa at melissa@mountainstudies.org
