About Melissa

Melis­sa Stew­art is the award-win­ning author of more than 200 sci­ence books for chil­dren. She has always been fas­ci­nat­ed by the nat­ur­al world and is pas­sion­ate about shar­ing its beau­ty and won­der with read­ers of all ages.

After earn­ing a bachelor’s degree in biol­o­gy from Union Col­lege in Sch­enec­tady, NY, and a master’s degree in sci­ence jour­nal­ism from New York Uni­ver­si­ty, Melis­sa worked as a children’s book edi­tor for nine years before becom­ing a full­time writer in 2000. She has writ­ten every­thing from board books for preschool­ers to resources guides for educators.

Melis­sa believes that noth­ing brings non­fic­tion writ­ing to life like first­hand research. While gath­er­ing infor­ma­tion for her books, she has explored trop­i­cal rain forests in Cos­ta Rica, gone on safari in East Africa, and swum with sea lions in the Gala­pa­gos Islands.

When Melis­sa isn’t writ­ing or explor­ing the nat­ur­al world, she spends time speak­ing at schools, libraries, and con­fer­ences for edu­ca­tors. She can’t imag­ine any job she’d rather have.