POSTDOC
Princeton University
Postdoctoral Teaching Fellows Program

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Dr. Melissa Staid,
is the Shell Foundation fellow in the Department of Geosciences. She received her B.A. in Geology from Colby College and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from Brown University. Melissa also has a M.S. in public accounting from the University of Hartford.

Melissa first led the precepts for "Fundamentals of Environmental Studies: Climate, Toxics, Air Pollution and Biodiversity," which included the development of role playing and debates on current topics such as
pesticide use in farming and reduced biodiversity in underdeveloped countries.

Dr. Staid then developed and implemented most of the laboratory exercises for Geo 202, "Introduction to Oceanography," taught by Professor Bess Ward. She drew minimally on pre-existing lab materials, developing most of it herself, and then led two lab sections and took charge of lab handouts, grading and coordinating the labs with the lectures.

Dr. Staid's research has focused on the development of a climate model with Anand Gnanadesikan (AOS) and Tony Broccoli at GFDL. In particular, she has been examining numerical models of global climate, in which the equatorial temperatures have been changed, to see whether the modeled changes are consistent with those associated with tropical cooling during the last glacial maximum.