Melody Horrill

Melody Horrill is an internationally published author, an award-winning Australian journalist, former television presenter and documentary producer. Her memoir ‘A dolphin called Jock’ and it’s US/UK equivalent ‘The Dolphin Who Saved Me’ has received national and international accolades and is endorsed by Dr Jane Goodall DBE, UN Messenger for Peace among many other notable conservationists.

Melody is well-known for her passionate writing and filming about the wild river dolphins in Adelaide, Australia. Her documentary ‘A Dance with a Dolphin’ was broadcast across Australia and around the world on CNN. She is co-chair of the Jane Goodall Institute’s Cetacea Committee and non-executive Director of the Dolphin Research Institute (AU).

Melody’s passion is sharing her story about growing up with, and surviving extreme domestic violence and how she gained resilience, strength and hope through connecting with nature – in particular, a wild, injured, solitary dolphin which she outlines in her memoir. Her ongoing concern for the plight of dolphins and whales worldwide, and desire to offer hope to victims of domestic violence are at the core of why she finally decided to pen her story. Several excerpts from her memoir will be featured in an International Marine Anthology published globally by OceanCare.

Melody has spent much of her life lobbying for the protection of Adelaide’s Port River dolphins. After leaving University, she founded a not-for-profit to raise public awareness about the dolphins and their environment. This led to the creation of Australia’s first Dolphin Sanctuary in the mid-2000’s.

As a broadcast journalist, Melody specialized in writing and presenting environment and science feature stories for many Australian TV news networks. She was also the South Australian Correspondent for CNN’s International World Report. She is an honorary member of CNN’s International Professional Program.

She has been a keynote speaker and MC at multiple events including the Pride of Australia Awards, SA Women in Leadership functions, SA Leaders Lunches, Port Adelaide Football Club Chairmans Luncheons, Myer/Spring Racing Carnival functions, SA Health workshops, along with hosting and speaking at numerous fund-raising events for charities such as the Animal Welfare League, Heart Foundation and Royal Zoological Association of SA. She has also presented to multiple schools.

In addition, she has developed and presented dozens of workshops focusing on effective media and communication strategies and impactful writing for organizations such as the Bureau of Meteorology, Real Estate Institute, Alexandra Health and Flinders Medical Centre.

Melody relocated to Melbourne in 2014, working for top rating radio station 3AW then as Media and Communications Manager for the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, where she won an Australia Day Merit Award for her outstanding communication work during the devastating 2019-2020 Victorian Bushfires. She left the organization in 2021 to focus on her writing.

Melody has also authored a children’s fantasy with strong personal resilience and environmental themes to be published in May 2024. A third book on human/domestic animal connections will be published in September 2024.

Melody Horrill talks about:

·         Resilience and hope

·         The power of sharing inspiring stories through ‘lived life’ experiences

·         Healing from childhood trauma/overcoming hardship

·         Connecting with animals and the natural world

·         Dolphins and the marine environment

·         Effective media engagement