For over 30 years, Dr. Melissa M. Nelson has worked at the intersection of K12 education, behavioral health, law enforcement, and legal systems. She has held various roles in urban, suburban, and rural education settings, including as an elementary and special education teacher, as well as an elementary and secondary administrator. Before her career in education, Dr. Nelson spent more than a decade as a mental health clinician and victim advocate in psychiatric, mental health, and legal environments. These settings in Pittsburgh, PA, included Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic’s Emergency Room, Allegheny County Emergency Services Mobile Crisis Unit, Center for Victims of Violent Crime, and Pressley Ridge School for the Deaf, Dr. Nelson is a national expert in K12 Standard of Care civil litigation matters for Park Dietz & Associates Forensic Experts and Consultants. She is also a consultant on K12 Behavioral Threat Assessment cases for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Pennsylvania Field Offices. Dr. Nelson served as the K12 systems subject matter expert for the Southwestern PA Threat Assessment Hub, a grant-funded program supported by the US Department of Homeland Security, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She was honored to collaborate with a team of national subject matter experts on the US Department of Homeland Security’s Public-Private Analytic Exchange Program (AEP), which worked on developing a prevention toolkit for community organizations to proactively address Violent Extremism. As an Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Nelson teaches aspiring superintendents, central office leaders, and building-level leaders doctoral and masters-level coursework focused on school safety and security, school behavioral and physical health, and school law. As a seasoned educator who understands the operational realities of working within K12 systems, her ability to relate to school-system key stakeholders provides the foundation for the collaborative work necessary to develop Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Teams, Suicide Screening and Postvention Response Systems, and Emergency Preparedness Plans in K12 settings. In her daily work, Dr. Nelson serves as a K12 School Safety and Security subject matter expert, focusing her consultation and training on supporting educators with building skills, efficacy, and a belief that they are the most powerful protective factor for keeping schools safe and secure.
