Mélissa Godin

Mélissa [she/her] is an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker. She has previously reported for Time, The Guardian, and The New York Times, among others. She is currently working on her first book, Take the Waters, which will be published by Henry Holt & Company.

Mélissa has worked extensively as a journalist covering stories at the intersection of human rights, culture, and climate change. She is drawn to stories that unveil how economic, ecological, and political changes shape the most intimate aspects of people’s lives, from the food they eat to the people they choose to love. Mélissa’s work has taken her around the globe to report on the forgotten books of the Amazon, the disappearing seagrass of the Mediterranean, the uncertain future of Sámi reindeer herders in the Arctic, and more. She has directed three documentaries in Southern Malawi, Papua (Indonesia), and Louisiana.

In 2021, Mélissa was named an Emerging Journalist of the Year finalist by the Columbia Journalism Review for her “refreshingly original topics, assiduous reporting and lively characters, resulting in journalism that teaches but also delights.” Her documentary, Daughters of Drought, won Best Short Documentary at the Toronto International Women Film Festival. Previously, Mélissa has received awards and grants from the United Nations Foundation, the Society of Environmental Journalists, One World Media, and the Earth Journalism Network, among others. In 2018, she was named a National Geographic Storytelling Explorer.

Alongside journalism, Mélissa works as a lecturer at Sciences Po. She holds degrees in politics, human rights, and philosophy from New York University, Sciences Po Paris, and the University of Oxford, where she attended as a Rhodes Scholar.