Melanie’s areas of expertise is on men's violence against women, children and young people including abuse in young people’s intimate relationships; domestic abuse in same sex relationships, sexual and other forms of abuse towards and by staff and students in education settings; forced marriage; gender roles and relations; participatory methods; and research ethics. She has published widely and works closely with practitioners and activitists.

In addition to teching on the undergraduate BA Social Policy and MSc Social Policy programmes, Melanie is research active. She recently completed work on the Scottish Government funded research Equally Safe in Higher Education (ESHE) and Equaly Safe in Colleges and Universities (ESCU) which created a Toolkit for tackling gender based violence on campus. This Toolkit is freely available for all Scottish higher and further education instutions. The Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council now require all Scottish univeristies to implement the Toolkit in their efforts to tackle gender-based violence. 

Melanie is co Primary Investigator (with Anni Donaldosn and Roisin McGoldrick) on a Scottish Government funded reseaarch project implemeting the Scottish Government Violencee Against Women and Girl's policy Equally Safe in higher and further education settings.

• 2011-2012    Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, University of Bristol.
• Oct 00-Oct 03     Ph.D. School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol. Thesis: The Connection between Domestic Violence and Masculinity: What Young People Think. Funded: University of Bristol Scholarship
• Oct 99-Sept 00    M.Phil. (Distinction) Dept. of History with an Emphasis on the History of Medicine, University of Glasgow.  Thesis: Medical and Social Attitudes Towards Women and Alcohol, 1875-1914. Funded: Wellcome Trust.
• Oct 96-July 99    B.A.(Hons) (First Class) Sociology and Social Policy, Glasgow Caledonian University.  Dissertation: Sexual Violence against Women and Girls in Glasgow.