Michelle joined the unit in September 2021 and works regionally in the Southeast to connect Sea Grant programs with military community coastal resilience projects through a partnership with SERPPAS (Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability) and the Department of Defense REPI (Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration) program.

She comes to Georgia after six years as a coastal resilience lead in the Virginia Sea Grant extension program with Old Dominion University and six years with a coastal hazards center at East Carolina University where she also completed her Ph.D. in Coastal Resources Management. Michelle is a UGA alumna, having received her master’s degree in zoology (marine science) after completing research at the UGA Marine Institute. She lives on her husband’s family farm in Hartwell, Georgia, just a couple of miles from the Savannah River.