After graduating in veterinary medicine (University of Giessen, Germany) Michelle focused on both research and practical experience in wildlife, more specifically in the field of marine mammals with a stranding and necropsy internship at IFAW (Massachusetts, USA) and a research project that investigated innate immune mechanisms (NETosis) in dolphins. In 2018 she started an internship, followed by a residency in anatomic pathology with an emphasis on wildlife at the Institute for Fish and Wildlife Health (University of Bern, Switzerland). She then continued her pathology residency at University College Dublin, Ireland in 2020 working on a wide variation of domestic and zoo animals as well as marine wildlife. She successfully became a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Pathologists in February 2023. As part of her professional doctorate (DVMS) her research work focused on infectious disease, specifically leptospirosis, its pathology on native and invasive species and diagnostic methods on archived samples. After successfully defending her thesis, she returned to Switzerland and is now working as head of diagnostics at the Institute for Fish and Wildlife Health.