Biography

Chris Melde is Associate Director, Director of Graduate Studies, and an associate professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University.  His primary research interests include street gangs, youth violence, adolescent development, individual and community reactions to crime and victimization risk, and program evaluation. He is currently the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on several funded projects, including Bureau of Justice Statistics funded projects on the implementation of city-level victimization surveys in high crime urban areas in the State of Michigan, as well as two National Institute of Justice (NIJ) funded projects on school safety in Flint, MI.  These projects focus on the role of school safety in the successful transition to high school, the identification of mental health issues in elementary schools, and best practices for developing a positive and safe school climate.  He has also worked on an NIJ funded multi-method multi-site study of the impact of gang desistance on adolescent development, a BJA funded evaluation of Lansing, MI’s Neighborhood Stabilization and Youth Violence Initiative, and NIJ funded evaluations of: Project Safe Neighborhoods Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative; the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) school-based program; and the Teens, Crime, and the Community: Community Works school-based program.  Dr. Melde was awarded the 2015 Tory J. Caeti Memorial Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Juvenile Justice section, given in recognition of the contribution of emerging scholars to the field of juvenile justice, for his work on gangs and youth violence prevention.