Melanie Lotfali PhD is a graduate of the Australian College of Journalism in Professional Writing for Children.
Melanie has taught spiritual education classes for children for the past twenty years in five countries and is currently an active animator and trainer of animators for the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program. She is a qualified counselor and classroom teacher, and for over six years facilitated violence prevention and respectful relationships programs in high schools.
Much of her childhood was spent on the farms, beaches and mountains of Tasmania, where the Fellowship Farm series is set. As an adult she spent four years in Siberia and four years in East Timor as a pioneer. She currently lives in Lismore, Australia, with her family.