Melanie is an Associate Professor in International Security in the Department of Political Science at University College London where she teaches her flagship course “From Cyberwarfare to Robots: The Future of Conflict in the Digital Age” that examines the nexus of disruptive tech and building defence and resilience. She also teaches courses on international negotiation and tech diplomacy, as well as problem-solving for policymaking at HM Treasury.

She provides practical insights and thought leadership for policymakers across the full spectrum of  cyber policy, tech geopolitics, and defence innovation challenges.  Having spent four years at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, where she set up the cyber policy function,  she has advised leaders globally on cyber resilience policy, the geopolitics of the internet, space, AI, and compute, the rise of tech companies as geopolitical actors, data governance as well as the future of defence.

Melanie is an accredited mediator and prior to joining UCL worked as a solicitor in the International Disputes department of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, covering Public International Law, International Arbitration, and International Corporate Investigations, as well as teaching mediation and negotiation techniques.