Dr. Frank C. Mello

Agriculture

Frank Mello is a scientist and conservationist who was born in Manteca and raised by his grandparents, Manuel and Mary Mello, on a dairy farm in Manteca. While attending Manteca High School, he was very active in Future Famers of America activities, serving as a state reporter and becoming a state champion in the steer competition. After graduating from Manteca High School in 1963, he attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, earning his bachelor of science degree in husbandry. He went on to earn a master’s degree from Fresno State in meat science, and his Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming in animal science and bioscience. He began his career as a biochemist for the Oscar Meyer/Kraft Corporation, and later became an executive with the Sara Lee Corporation in West Point, Mississippi. In 1998, he and his wife, Judy, started the B. Bryan Preserve. The preserve is a conservation center in Point Arena, California, focused on rare and endangered African hoof stock. The 110-acre coastal facility consists of Black Wildebeest, African Cape Buffalo, Rothschild’s Giraffe, Grevy’s and Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra, along with Roan, Sable, and Kudu Antelope. All of these African hoof stocks are very rare and some are the most endangered in all of Africa. The Mellos provide daily tours on their 110-arce preserve, with guests roaming through the preserve in vintage open-air Land Rovers (they are going to introduce electric cars soon). The guests travel through the preserve observing the animals in a beautiful natural setting. The preserve had more than 10,000 guests just last year; and besides viewing the animals, people can spend a few nights in rustic cottages on the property.