Melissa Petruzzello is Assistant Managing Editor and covers a range of content including plants, algae, and fungi; insects and spiders; and renewable energy and environmental engineering. She also handles certain topics in Christianity, notably Protestant history and churches. She joined Britannica in 2009 and is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
A passionate native plant gardener and conservationist, Melissa is a member of the Florida Native Plant Society and served on the Board of Directors of the St. Kateri Conservation Center.
EDUCATION
M.S. Plant Biology and Conservation | Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Her thesis examined plant-pollinator interactions in a Penstemon population in Zion National Park, UT.
B.S. Biological Science; minor Biblical Studies | Biola University, La Mirada, CA.
Comprehension Quiz: Water Scarcity
A Is for Animal Quiz
Types of Chemical Reactions
Biodiversity Loss
Latin American Authors
English Romantic Poets
Pope Quiz
Columbian Exchange: New World or Old World?
Nut or Not?
Botany Basics: Fact or Fiction?
Grains and Pseudograins
Ecosystems
Tasty Taxonomy
Plants with Religious Meaning
Oh My Gourd
What Is It? Fruits and Veggies Edition
Animal Group Names
Plants and Booze
(Not) All in the Family
Scientific Names of Edible Plants
This or That? Annual vs. Perennial
Climate Change: Fact or Fiction?
Climate Change
Canada: 10 Claims to Fame
6 Animals We Ate Into Extinction
Extinct in the Wild but Still Around: 5 Plants and Animals Kept Alive by Humans
8 Buzzworthy Types of Bees
St. Paul’s Contributions to the New Testament
The Seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic church
Merry and Bright: 8 Jolly Christmas Plants
Meet the Microbes: 5 Tiny Protozoans and Algae
9 Animals That Look Like Leaves
The Sun Was Eaten: 6 Ways Cultures Have Explained Eclipses
Falling Far from the Tree: 7 Brilliant Ways Seeds and Fruits Are Dispersed
Botanical Sex: 9 Alluring Adaptations
9 Mind-Altering Plants
8 Fruits to Try Before You Die
5 Fast Facts About Flower Anatomy
6 Cell Organelles
5 Awesome Parasitic Plants
Playing with Wildfire: 5 Amazing Adaptations of Pyrophytic Plants
5 Notorious Greenhouse Gases
