Melissa Curtis has recently completed her PhD in Geology, with a research title of “Water Resources Assessment of the Upper and Lower Rio Cobre Watershed Management Units, using a suite of hydrological modelling tools”. Her research is particularly relevant given the ongoing impact of climate change, and reflects her passion for water management, hydrology, and environmental sustainability in Jamaica and other Small Island Developing States.

Under the supervision of Dr Arpita Mandal (Senior Lecturer @uwigeoggeol), Curtis built on her academic foundation, which includes a Bachelor of Science in Geology (major) and Geography (minor) from The UWI, Mona, and MPhil research begun in 2016. As a graduate student (with the keen guidance of her supervisor), she contributed to the State of the Jamaican Climate 2022 report, Vulnerability Risk Assessment and Climate Change Adaptation for the Water Sector.

Curtis has presented her research at various international conferences, including the Geological Society of America Conference (2017), Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association Conference (2018), ESRI User Conference (2019), and the Global Water Partnership Caribbean Conference (2021). Her work has also taken her to countries like St. Kitts, Barbados, Belize, and Guyana, where she assisted in training sessions on hydrological and hydraulic modelling tools. Locally, she worked on projects such as the Hope/Yallahs watershed and the Sediment Budget Projects in the Rio Minho.

Melissa's contributions to the field have earned her recognition, including the ESRI Young Scholar award in 2019 for her application of GIS in research. Her latest publication is a book chapter titled “Potential of flood modelling for forecasting of floods in the data-poor environment: case studies from Jamaica” (2024).