WiserEarth Area of Focus Suggestions

Melissa K. Nelson, Ph.D. is a cultural ecologist, writer, educator, researcher, media-maker, and activist. Her work is dedicated to indigenous revitalization, environmental protection and restoration, and the renewal and celebration of community health and cultural arts.

Since 1993 Melissa has served as the president and executive director of The Cultural Conservancy (TCC), an indigenous rights nonprofit organization. The Cultural Conservancy is dedicated to the revitalization of indigenous cultures and their ancestral lands. TCC is located in the Thoreau Center for Sustainability in the Presidio of San Francisco. In 2002 Melissa joined the faculty of the American Indian Studies Department at San Francisco State University. As a professor Melissa works with her colleagues in the development of their American Indian Studies Department and teaches courses in American Indian Science, Native California Indians, Indigenous Oral Literature, American Indian Women, and others.

Through the Cultural Conservancy, in 2005 Melissa co-produced the award-winning documentary film, The Salt Song Trail: Bringing Creation Back Together. Her first book, Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings For A Sustainable Future, an edited anthology of over twenty indigenous leaders from the Bioneers Conference, was released in February 2008.

Melissa is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota and is of mixed-blood heritage: Chippewa (Anishinaabe) and French-Cree (Métis) from her mother and Norwegian from her father. She was born and raised in northern California. Melissa and her partner, composer and musician, Colin Farish, live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area.