Prior to her project management and logistics work for EYOS, Michelle gained hands-on experience with all aspects of expedition travel working for 20 years as a naturalist guide, expedition leader, and product developer for Lindblad Expeditions. This work took her to the temperate rainforests of Southeast Alaska, British Columbia, and the Pacific Northwest, the desert islands of the Gulf of California and the Baja peninsula, Central America, the eastern Mediterranean, and across the Indo-Pacific. After years of extensive travel, Michelle worked for nearly a decade in the nonprofit sector. As a program manager with the Biomimicry Institute, she helped startup founders, scientist innovators, and students learn from nature, supporting their efforts to solve today’s biggest environmental and social challenges through the Biomimicry Launchpad and the Ray of Hope Prize accelerator program. As the Operations Manager for Great Peninsula Conservancy, an accredited land trust in western Washington, she wore many hats in support of their conservation, stewardship, and community engagement programs.
From 2003 to 2013, Michelle and her husband Mark sailed their 38 ft. sailboat from the Pacific Northwest to New Zealand via California, Mexico, French Polynesia, and Tonga. These days she can be found working in her garden, hiking with her dogs, and putting down roots in the Pacific Northwest. Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in ecology and evolutionary biology, and a master’s degree in marine biology.