Melanie McField is the founder and Director of the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative (HRI), a multi-institutional effort that has grown to include 73 partner organizations working to better understand and conserve the Mesoamerican Reef. The program has been underway in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico for fourteen years, producing six Mesoamerican Reef Report Cards that track the health of the reef and four Eco-Audits that evaluate each country’s reef management effort. The collaborative, evidence based adaptive management cycle includes strategic communications aimed at supporting needed policy interventions and testing novel science-based solutions or restoration interventions. Melanie began her work in Belize as a Peace Corps volunteer/field biologist with the Hol Chan marine reserve. She then earned a PhD in Marine Science from the University of South Florida, based on evaluation of the influence of disturbance and management on reef community structure in Belize. In 2001, she worked with the World Wildlife Fund, and since 2006 with the Smithsonian Institution. She has over 40 peer reviewed research papers, numerous book chapters, technical and public-interest publications and has mentored 13 graduate students. She has received several awards, including the 2021 Conservation Award from the International Coral Reef Society and participated in numerous television news broadcasts and nature-based documentaries to broaden support for reef conservation awareness.