Dr. Harrell earned her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Central Florida (UCF) in industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology. Her studies focused on performance measurement and feedback, as well as the development of organizational surveys. In addition to attending UCF, she was also an organization development consultant for professors and staff at the university. In this capacity, she was involved in organizational change initiatives through needs assessments, informational gathering (surveys, focus groups, mystery shoppers, etc.), feedback and intervention, and assessment of impact.

In addition to her work at UCF, Melissa has worked for companies in the hospitality industry and has consulted with retail, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, and government organizations. Melissa shares a particular interest in working with nonprofits to implement I/O and human resources initiatives. She has studied nonprofit management at the graduate level and has worked for nonprofit organizations in various capacities.

Melissa is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and has taught upper-level undergraduate courses in the areas of statistics, I/O psychology, organization development, and organizational behavior at UCF and Rollins College She has authored articles for the Journal of Applied Psychology and is a frequent presenter at SIOP.