Melody has co-produced But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids since it launched in 2016. The podcast has now grown to one of the top public media kids podcasts. She is involved in all aspects of podcast production, from booking guests and writing scripts to mixing audio, social media, and sometimes getting on stage for live performances.

Favorite episodes

• Why do pigs oink?

• Why do turtles need shells? Why do frogs hop?

• Why is milk white?

• Hopes and Dreams for 2021 from kids around the world

• How is But Why made? What is sound?

Melody started working in audio as a production assistant answering the phones for live call-in shows at Vermont Public Radio. She's been a news producer and served as deputy news director. Her stories have appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, NPR Newscasts and APM's Marketplace. She especially enjoys reporting on agriculture and the outdoors, and loves developing audio/digital projects that engage the community and bring new voices to the airwaves.

Favorite news stories

• By Any Other Name, Does Vermont's Maple Syrup Taste As Sweet?

• Low Milk Prices Push Small Dairy Farms Out Of Business

• Farmers Says Resiliency Is Part Of The Job

• As Vermont Prepares To Ban Food Scraps From Trash, St. Albans Gets A Head Start

• As WIC Nutrition Program Switches To Cards, Vermont's Truck Makes Its Last Deliveries

• Farmers Embrace Cover Crops To Improve Soil, Reduce Runoff

• Program Builds Backyard Gardens For Migrant Workers, Vermont's Most Food-Insecure

• Children Of Migrant Workers Face Unique Pressures In Vermont

Engagement Journalism

• 'My Way Of Giving Back': Artist Survives 9/11 Attacks & Paints Two Towers Of People

• Green jackets: Essays from Vermont's legislative pages

Awards

In 2012 a special series that Melody produced won an RTNDA Unity Award. The series was created for Vermont's community reading program, Vermont Reads: To Kill A Mockingbird and explored race and family in Vermont.

• Vermont Reads: Families Discuss Race

Also in 2012 she wrote a newscast that won a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award.

• Listen to the newscast

In 2022, Melody was part of a team that won a national Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Innovation for the series 20 Years Later: Vermonters Remember Sept. 11