Experts & Staff

Michelle is a member of the Water Quality Team in the People and Ecosystems Program. She leads the Mississippi River Basin nutrient trading project and also works on the Chesapeake Bay trading project.

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Previously, Michelle was a Senior Analyst with the Environmental Working Group where she published reports on how well two Farm Bill programs (the Conservation Compliance Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program) are working to reduce agricultural pollution in the 10 states bordering the Mississippi River. She also published a report on the six Chesapeake Bay states’ voluntary and regulatory approaches to reducing farm nutrient pollution. Before that, she worked for the Alliance to Save Energy on international energy efficiency issues in China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines.

Michelle also serves as Vice-President of the National Capital Chapter for the Soil Water Conservation Society. SWCS is a professional society with over 5,000 members that fosters the science and art of soil, water, and natural resource conservation.

Michelle received a doctorate in environmental policy from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy in May 2010. Her dissertation is a three-state comparative case study of agricultural regulations in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. She has a Masters degree in environmental policy from Maryland and an undergraduate degree in biology from Occidental College.

Michelle grew up in the Philippines and Nigeria and spent her summers in Greeley, Colorado. She lives in Maryland with her husband and receives occasional calls from her teenage step-daughter in college. In her free time, Michelle chases the family’s non-fetching dog around the yard, salsa dances, and enjoys historical fiction.