Melissa Tacy is a pure mathematician working in the areas of semiclassical and harmonic analysis. She received her PhD from ANU in 2010. As a student she held a Fulbright scholarship that allowed her to spend a year of her PhD at UC Berkeley. It is unusual for a PhD graduate from an Australian university to get a job at the prestigious Institute of Advanced Studies in Princeton, immediately after graduation. It is an indication of a very high quality of research achievement. Melissa is one of these rare people. After this position, she worked at Northwestern University in the USA before returning to Australia to take up a lectureship at the University of Adelaide. She is now at the ANU as a research fellow. Melissa also has an interest in outreach, having participated in programs such as “Scientists in Schools” and then “Mathematicians in Schools”.