After graduating in veterinary medicine from the University of Giessen (Germany), Michelle focused on wildlife research and clinical experience, particularly in marine mammals. She completed a stranding and necropsy internship at IFAW (Massachusetts, USA) and conducted research on innate immune mechanisms (NETosis) in dolphins. In 2018, she began an internship followed by a residency in anatomic pathology with a wildlife focus at the Institute for Fish and Wildlife Health, University of Bern (Switzerland). In 2020, she continued her residency at University College Dublin (Ireland), working with domestic, zoo, and marine wildlife species. She became a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Pathologists in February 2023. As part of her professional doctorate (DVMS), her research focused on infectious disease, particularly leptospirosis, investigating its pathology in native and invasive species and diagnostic methods using archived samples. After defending her thesis, she returned to Switzerland as co-head of diagnostics at the Institute for Fish and Wildlife Health for two years as maternity cover. She then joined the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, supporting the pathology unit with a focus on tumour diagnostics in the biopsy service, teaching, and research.