Michelle is the founder and president of Balk Biological. She has over seventeen years of experience in the environmental consulting field in Southern California. Her specialties include vegetation community mapping, special-status plant surveys, project management, and training and leading other botanists in large-scale floristic surveys. She also performs wetlands delineations and general wildlife surveys and is an experienced environmental monitor of linear construction projects. She has participated in the preparation of a wide variety of environmental documents, including biotechnical reports in support of CEQA documents and habitat conservation plans pursuant to Section 10 of the federal Endangered Species Act. Ms. Balk regularly teaches botany classes for the California Native Plant Society.
Michelle enjoys reading, camping, and trying to teach her two-year-old about plants and wildlife while he ignores her to focus on trains and trucks. Michelle’s favorite plants are the spineflowers (Chorizanthe species), or really anything teeny tiny that requires one to slow down and look closely to appreciate its intricate beauty.
Michelle holds a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from Iowa State University and a Master of Science from the University of Akron (Ohio) (emphasis in Ecology and Evolution).