Michele is the curator of archaeology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. She studies ancient complex societies and is especially interested in ancient political dynamics, social networks, and how people of the past interacted with their environment.

She has conducted archaeological research throughout the United States, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, France and China. Michele earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh, a master’s degree from the University of Denver, and her Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Michele currently directs projects in the New Mexico, Colorado, and in Peru and curates the Museum’s archaeological collections from Latin American, North America and Egypt. Michele served as lead archaeologist for a DPAA recovery mission in France in 2021.