Melissa Goodall is the Assistant Director of the Yale Office of Sustainability. In this role, she is responsible for fostering strategic faculty, staff, and student partnerships across the university that lead to the implementation of sustainability best practices. She is also helping to develop and encourage partnership programs between the University and the city of New Haven.

Prior to joining the Sustainability team, Melissa spent five years as the Associate Director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy. During her time with the Center, Melissa managed a range of projects related to environmental governance, environmental attitudes and behavior, and data-driven environmental decision-making. Also while with the Center, Melissa chaired the committee that hosted the Yale 2008 Conference of Governors on Climate Change. Pervious to that, she was the Assistant Director of Communications for the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Melissa came to Yale after five years as an international environmental policy project manger, primarily focused on climate change impacts, mitigation, and adaptation in developing countries. During this time, Melissa worked mainly with the United Nations Development Programme, particularly with its Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean and its partner program with Yale, which focused on public-private partnership for the urban environment.

Melissa is a New Haven native, and has rooted herself firmly in the community. She is the leader of her neighborhood greenspace group, and she and her husband own Koffee on Audubon, a community-oriented coffeehouse that is committed to maintaining safe, community–oriented, creative space; and being a responsible corporate citizen at the local and global levels.