Melanie McDermott
Sustainable Jersey Senior Researcher
Ewing, New Jersey
With degrees in interdisciplinary social science (PhD.) and forestry (MSc.), MELANIE MCDERMOTT has over 20 years’ experience in the U.S., Asia, Southern Africa, and the Caribbean in academic and applied research and consulting. Major topics of this work include community forestry, coastal resilience, and the impact of climate change mitigation policy on social equity. Prior to coming to TCNJ, she served at Rutgers University as research faculty, lecturer, and Associate Director of the Climate and Society Initiative. At the Sustainability Institute, she has been engaged in a collaborative initiative to develop a vision, goals, and indicators for sustainability for New Jersey at the state level. She is leading the effort to determine the fair and feasible municipal contribution to achieving these goals in order to establish the Gold level of certification.