Margo Melnicove has been working in public broadcasting as a reporter, producer, editor, anchor, news manager and trainer for more than 30 years, and has been teaching journalism at the college level since 1994. She currently teaches a core course in the journalism program at Brandeis University, “Writing and Producing News for Broadcast and the Internet.” The Bay Area workshop is the third Science Literacy Project workshop she has helped develop.

Melnicove began her broadcast journalism career in 1977 in Alaska, as a volunteer at KRBD-FM in Ketchikan. At the time she had a career in education and social services, which she pursued after getting a bachelor’s in journalism and a master’s in education. But once she went on-air, she was hooked, and she left human services for what became her lifelong passion.

Since then she has worked at KTOO-FM & TV in Juneau; WBUR-FM, WGBH-FM, and Monitor Radio in Boston; and National Public Radio in Washington, DC. She has contributed to NPR news magazines and other national programs, and earned some of journalism’s top awards for reporting and editing.

As senior producer of newscasts at Monitor Radio, Melnicove launched public radio’s first 24-hour newscast service. At NPR, she was the producer/trainer for a professional development program for early- and mid-career reporters (NPR’s Diversity Initiative), a newscasts editor, and NPR’s first liaison with independent producers.

As editorial director of the Global Resource Service at The World, Melnicove commissioned local stories with global angles from freelancers across the U.S. In that capacity, she received the 2008 RTNDA/Unity Award (radio network) for outstanding achievement in the coverage of diversity. She also received the Asian American Journalists Association 2008 National Journalism Award (radio) for excellence in coverage of Asian American/Pacific Islander issues. The winning piece, “Asian Americans and Gambling,” was reported by Lenora Chu and edited by Melnicove.

When she’s not fishing for stories, Melnicove enjoys fishing for...fish. She owned and operated a commercial fishing vessel in Alaska, and now enjoys sport fishing in Buzzards Bay.