Melissa Sterry

A recipient of several international awards for innovation, creativity and enterprise, Dr. Melissa Sterry is a design scientist, complex systems theorist, planetary futurist and serial founder whose research and practice explores how emerging and anticipated near-future science, technology and thinking may help humanity to build a brighter future in the face of challenges including climate change, resource shortages, and biodiversity and virgin habit loss. Her career largely spent crafting first-to-market concepts and companies, a chartered scientist, she has a PhD in developing architectural and urban resilience to major wildfire events, together with over two decades experience in delivering strategic advisories at board-level to multinational corporations, NGOs, and market-founding start-ups. Melissa's wider experience spans visiting lecturer/fellow, guest critic/professor, thesis supervisor, assembly member, scientific committee member, peer-reviewer, editorial/curatorial board member, author, juror and keynote speaker to manifold leading international STEM, design, architecture, and arts journals, conferences, awards, societies, and academic and professional institutions. Melissa is founder/director of London-based biofuturism consultancy Bioratorium® and its research lab Labioratorium® [est. 2019], of architectural / urban resilience research and open access publishing project Panarchic Codex® [est. 2018], and of biodesign/biotech for the built environment platform Bionic City® [est. 2010]. Her past works include founding the award-winning sustainability think tank and collaborative laboratory Societás [2004 - 2010]; co-founding award-winning catalyst for rapid innovation in sustainable design, New Frontiers [2009 - 2010]; co-founding the world's first online visual arts awards, Creative Graduate Prize [2004-2010]; and co-founding the world's first online fashion arts awards, Iconique Societás Awards [2007-2010]. Her previous entrepreneurial activities include executive director at the world's first online events network, at the world's first online private members club, together with executive / non-executive director and C-Level advisory roles at several pioneering start-ups in sectors including design, publishing, media, communications, and the arts.