Melinda has worked in research administration since 2009 at Clemson University, in South Carolina, U.S. Beginning her research administration journey in post-award, she transitioned to pre-award in 2013. She currently supports the College of Education as the Manager of the Office of Research Services. At Clemson University, Melinda is serving as Immediate Past President of the Staff Senate. Professionally, Melinda has served as the NCURA Region III Philanthropy Coordinator, and the Sponsorship Coordinator, Global Track Lead for the 2021 NCURA PRA Conference and 2025 FRA Conference, and Program Committee Member for NCURA Region III 2021 Regional Conference. She is Co-PI of the RAAAP-3 Project, and PI of the NCURA funded RAPIDS project, focused on creating a professional identity values scale for Research Administrators. Melinda served as the North American editor of the recently released (Nov. 2023) book The Emerald Handbook of Research Management and Administration around the World and currently serves as an editor for JoRMA the Journal of Research Management and Administration.