Michelle received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Maine in 2012. She completed two post-docs: one studying the innate immune response to Influenza A virus in zebrafish and the other studying muscular dystrophy in zebrafish genetic models of the disease. She has co-authored 17 peer-reviewed, scientific publications. Michelle taught Histology and Developmental Biology to undergraduates at the University of Maine. She lives in Old Town, ME, with her two young kids and an old Siberian Husky.