Melinda's research involves estimating co-extinction rates and providing management advice for co-threatened species. Co-extinction is the loss of a dependent species with its host plant or animal.

By utilizing existing datasets of insects from plants, Melinda is identifying management strategies for sustaining viable populations of endangered insects, which ultimately assists in conserving a major component of Australia's biodiversity.

Furthermore, she and her collaborators are assisting land managers to gauge the magnitude of the co-extinction problem, how it may vary with habitat loss, climate change and other threats, and to evaluate the conservation benefits for fauna of different plant conservation strategies.