Melinda Welton graduated from the University of Connecticut in zoology as an ornithologist. She is a well-known bird biologist whose work provided the science for the preservation of 70,000 acres of biodiverse lands in the Cumberland Mountains. Her work with the Cerulean Warbler, a species of high conservation concern, has taken her across Tennessee and to many remote areas in Central America.
Her passion is to enhance our understanding of birds and their biology and to inspire new birdwatchers to appreciate birds and actively conserve their habitats.