Mel is the Pacific Region Operations Manager at the Transportation Safety Board. She started with the TSB in June of 2024, spending almost a year as a Senior Marine Investigator before assuming the Manager position. Mel started her career in the Royal Canadian Navy spending 21 years as a Naval Technical Officer, where she gained extensive experience managing technical teams and operating, maintaining and designing marine systems on major warships and submarines. Her various postings enabled her to develop expertise in damage control, emergency response, and system safety. She obtained her MSc in Marine Engineering in 2012 and retired from the RCN in 2018. After retirement, Mel held Senior Marine Systems Engineer and Principal Safety Engineer positions as a Professional Engineer in the marine industry, providing marine systems engineering and safety engineering support to Defense and Commercial clients in ship system design, human and safety systems, and maintenance. She now applies her knowledge and experience to further marine transportation safety within the TSB.