Michaela was born and raised in Orange County, CA, hiking regional park trails and enjoying summers at the beach in Newport. In 2018, she received her B.S. in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in marine environments from UC Santa Barbara. Her education brought her back to OC to receive her M.S. in Conservation and Restoration Science with a marine emphasis from UC Irvine in 2021. Her field work experience includes conducting intertidal habitat assessment surveys in Orange County for the recovery of the endangered black abalone for her Master’s research, as well as volunteering for salt marsh restoration and shorebird monitoring projects.

Prior to working at Coastkeeper, she worked at several nonprofits contributing to community-based conservation and education programs. She is excited to give back to her home community by fostering the next generation of environmental stewards through Coastkeeper’s education programs.

In her free time, you can find her shopping at thrift stores, exploring Laguna’s tide pools, or reading in the backyard with her chickens.