Melanie Maxine Doucet studied in Criminal Justice at the New Brunswick Community College in Miramichi, N.B. and proceeded to complete a Bachelors of Applied Arts in Criminal Justice at Saint Thomas University in 2003. Upon on the completion of her program, she was employed as a youth care worker at Fredericton Residential Youth Services Inc., and provided assistance on research projects with Dr. Bill Morrison, Patrick Flanagan and Dr. Douglas Willms to name a few. Melanie's main research interests are child and youth policy issues revolving around education, health, environment, poverty, delinquency, prevention, and intervention.

Melanie has been employed at the Canadian Research Institute for Social Policy (CRISP) at the University of New Brunswick since November 2004, and assists with various research projects and administrative tasks. Melanie's superior organizational skills were of tremendous value while co-organizing two national conferences (Healthy Schools in 2005; NIN Call for Knowledge in 2007). She is an expert editor, APA formatter and consistently offers excellent support in getting publications to press for CRISP faculty.

Melanie is currently completing her Masters degree in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of New Brunswick, where her research focuses on the effects of classroom disciplinary climate on students' attitudes and educational success. In the fall of 2007 she was awarded the UNB Alumni Merit award for showing successful academic performance and making contributions to the university. As such, she has been involved in various university-based research projects and conference presentations, with one publication entitled 'The social costs of unhealthy children: Examining the future of Atlantic Canada', co-written with Dr. Joe Ruggeri and Leah Levac. Two further co-written papers have been submitted for publication. Melanie will also have the honour of presenting her thesis research in front of an international audience in March 2008; her submission to present at the annual American Educational Research Association (AERA) meeting being held in New York City has been chosen among 12,000 applications. There is no doubt that with these many accomplishments at such an early stage of her career, Melanie will be contributing to the field of child and youth policy for years to come.