The Makings of a Cellulite Analyst

In the early days of the Cellulite Investigation, your trusty cellulite analyst was a lonesome, anonymous blogger. I prefer to work deep behind the scenes, as my career history attests.

But you, dear CI readers, have been so welcoming and supportive that I decided to go ahead and properly introduce myself, first by using my first name (baby steps, Melissa) and now with a profile picture. I hope seeing the face behind the blog will give our little investigation a more personal feel.

How I Got My Start as a Professional Analyst

After graduating from Georgetown University with a degree in Science, Technology, and International Affairs, I started my analytic career as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy. I served in the military for five years before eagerly settling into my new job as an intelligence analyst with a certain Three-lettered Government Agency.

It takes a distinct type of personality to work in this field.  Like most of my colleagues, I’m an unambiguous introvert who doesn’t mind spending long days in windowless rooms while researching complex technical issues. Even more unusual, I actually think it’s fun!

Analysis involves more than just collecting “the facts” and assembling them into a finished product, as if putting together the pieces of a puzzle.  Intelligence analysis is more like trying to assemble a puzzle when half the pieces are missing and you don’t know what the picture looks like on the top of the box.  Plus, someone threw in thousands of pieces that go with different puzzles altogether.

Then, for reasons that may or may not be malicious in nature, other people mixed in random pieces designed to look like they belong to your puzzle but they actually don’t.  Maybe the pieces fit together on one side, but not the other.

One of the main reasons intelligence analysis is so challenging is because it deals with ambiguous, ambivalent, and incomplete data.  When the human brain confronts this type of information, it usually relies on certain subconscious mental processes to interpret the info at hand.  These mental models are essential for making sense of the world, but they also lead to common analytical traps.

Professional analysts spend their careers developing specialized skill sets to help them avoid these cognitive pitfalls.  While working for Said Government Agency, I won a Fulbright award to further study the art of analysis in the United Kingdom where I earned a master’s degree from the University of St. Andrews. It was in this academic setting, with my head swimming in dense theoretical essays, that my professional interest in analysis and my personal interest in cellulite first came together.

At St. Andrews, I focused on a branch of International Relations theory that involves uncovering hidden assumptions and exploring alternative scenarios –skills I’ve called on throughout the investigation thus far.  Since launching the Cellulite Investigation, nearly everything I thought I knew about health and wellness has changed. My research into cellulite altered my understanding of fat, exercise, nutrition, genetics, and so much more. For me, studying cellulite opened up a level of wellness I did not think was possible. I hope it will do the same for you.

You might also like:
About the Cellulite Investigation
Cellulite Stories, Declassified (Codename: The Analyst)
You Could Be a Valuable Source in the Cellulite Investigation: What’s Your Cellulite Story? 
Contact the Cellulite Analyst
My Cellulite Status Report: March 2010

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