Hello! I'm Melissa. I'm a software engineer specializing in data engineering, data analysis and backend development.

I also build things for fun. Current bad habits include LEDs, arduinos, sensors and fake fur.

I completed my PhD at the USC Annenberg School in August 2015. My research interests are in the general area of technology and society, with a particular focus on mobile technology in the developing world. I've also published on social movements, and digital rights/tech policy activism.

I previously worked at the University of Cape Town on a mobile data collection project, did an MSc in ICTs for Development at the University of Manchester, worked at Cell-Life on technologies for managing the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and, in a world before Google Earth, did an undergraduate degree in Geoinformatics and Computer Science.