Student Profiles
Dennis Mello
MPIA '13
Career Track: International Development and Nonprofit Management
Regional Focus: Latin America
Languages: Spanish, Bislama
Dean's Fellow, 2012-2013
Dennis Mello was born and raised in San Diego until leaving to pursue his undergraduate degree in civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Upon graduation from Berkeley, Dennis was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a civil engineering officer from 2001-2005.
After leaving the military, Dennis spent two years working for a private construction firm in San Francisco. He and his wife joined the Peace Corps in 2007, serving as education volunteers in the Republic of Vanuatu in the South Pacific. It was this experience that motivated him to pursue a degree at IR/PS.
Dennis spent his summer internship conducting a research project under the supervision of IR/PS Professor Jennifer Burney looking at usage rates of ‘smokeless’ wood-burning stoves in Vanuatu. Part of his research included traveling to the islands and experienced the challenges of implementing and evaluating a real-world intervention. The internship was one of four selected to receive summer fellowship support from the IR/PS Laboratory on International Law and Regulation (ILAR).
Dennis served as one of two first-year representatives to the IR/PS Pacific International Affairs Student Organization (PIASO), and is currently one of three consultants with the Community Consultants Program, which offers free consulting services to the International Rescue Committee in San Diego.
