Melissa's Biography
Raised in Niagara Falls, NY, Melissa was lucky enough to live next door to her grandparents and aunts, learning to make sauce and to forage dandelion greens to fry up with garlic. That personal connection to food sparked an interest in local food systems, inspiring her to study urban planning and community development, earning a Master’s from the University at Buffalo.
Her career path has included leading affordable housing efforts in Buffalo, NY, to working as a congressional staffer, and as Executive Director with Grassroots Gardens Western New York and Buffalo Audubon, where she worked to re-connect people to land through food, culture, and community science.
Melissa relocated to central Tucson after years of yearning for mountains and sunshine, where she is currently co-authoring a field guide to the birds of Arizona and New Mexico with her partner, and co-organizes a Feminist Bird Club chapter. She is thrilled to be working in the borderlands at the intersection of community and conservation, and looks forward to building relationships here. You can find her in the Sky Islands photographing everything she sees, struggling between looking up for birds and looking down for plants and snakes.
Email: Melissa Fratello
Her career path has included leading affordable housing efforts in Buffalo, NY, to working as a congressional staffer, and as Executive Director with Grassroots Gardens Western New York and Buffalo Audubon, where she worked to re-connect people to land through food, culture, and community science.
Melissa relocated to central Tucson after years of yearning for mountains and sunshine, where she is currently co-authoring a field guide to the birds of Arizona and New Mexico with her partner, and co-organizes a Feminist Bird Club chapter. She is thrilled to be working in the borderlands at the intersection of community and conservation, and looks forward to building relationships here. You can find her in the Sky Islands photographing everything she sees, struggling between looking up for birds and looking down for plants and snakes.
Email: Melissa Fratello