For those of us who live at the shoreline
-Audre Lorde, “A Litany for Survival”
standing upon the constant edges of decision
Dr. Mel Michelle Lewis is a conservation sector thought leader, scholar, writer, and transdisciplinary artist deeply committed to amplifying critical voices and creative visions for structural change, sustainable practice, environmental justice, and social transformation. Dr. Mel serves as the inaugural Executive Curator of Root to Flourish Collective, cultivating deep relationships and promoting interconnectedness between people and nature. Their work ensures systemically marginalized voices are central to shaping the future of environmental stewardship. Dr. Mel is also Lead Coach & Consultant with The Art of Change Agency, supporting just, meaningful, and joyful ways of working, leading, writing, and creating. They also teach interdisciplinary humanities and support social and environmental justice inquiry at Maryland Institute College of Art.
Previously, they provided strategic guidance and creative visions for the future of clean water for people and nature as Vice President for People, Justice, and Cultural Affairs at American Rivers. They also held the role of Affiliated Researcher with the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Mel served as Associate Professor and Director of the Ecosystems, Sustainability, and Justice Program, co-founder of The Space for Creative Black Imagination: An Interdisciplinary Making and Research Institute, and Chair of the Humanistic Studies Department at Maryland Institute College of Art. They chaired the Center for Geographies of Justice, the Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Department, and Africana Studies Department at Goucher College, as well as the Department of Ethnic Studies at Saint Mary’s College of California.
Rooted in the Gulf South’s folklore, dialect, foodways, music, art, and landscapes, Dr. Mel’s creative work explores nature writing themes in rural coastal settings through the lens of Black, Creole, and AfroIndigenous knowledges. Raised in Bayou La Batre, on the Alabama Gulf Coast, their multimedia projects and creative writing portraiture feature ancestral lands, generational lineages, and queer longings in frontline Gulf South communities. Their book Biomythography Bayou is available via The Griot Project Book Series at Bucknell University Press. Their forthcoming project Waterbody is supported by American Bird Conservancy‘s Afrofuturism Collective and re:wild.
Dr. Mel serves on the board of Orion Magazine: Nature and Culture and Greens REALIGN.
Contact: melmichellelewis[at]gmail[dot]com
Dr. Mel Michelle Lewis 