Michelle was born and raised in Palmer, Alaska. She grew up set netting for salmon on the West side of Alaska's Cook Inlet, which started her life's work as a salmon harvester, student and conservationist. From childhood to her career and family today, her life has always centered around the seasonality of the ocean and its ecosystem, the tide always setting her summer schedule. She began her fisheries career as a technician for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, eventually becoming a fisheries biologist. She worked for 8 years as an ADFG fisheries biologist out of the Kodiak office, and today she owns and operates a setnet operation on the South End of Kodiak Island. Michelle has managed, researched and participated as a harvester in Alaska's subsistence, recreational and commercial fisheries. 

Michelle has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, and a Masters in Fisheries Science from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She began her work at AMCC as a Fisheries Scientist, centered around research, education, and helping to build connections between Alaska's fishing communities and the scientific processes that support them. Those same goals are folded into her approach to her new role, as AMCC's Executive Director. As a lifelong subsistence hunter, fisherman and student of fishery ecosystems, Michelle has committed her passion and expertise to a personal and professional mission to sustain Alaska's food systems, peoples and wild spaces. ​

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michelle@akmarine.org