Michelle Kovarik grew up in northern Kentucky and obtained her B.S. in chemistry from Saint Louis University. During this time, she became involved in undergraduate research on microfluidics, which sparked a life-long interest. She did her graduate work on the design, operation, and application of nanofluidic devices at Indiana University. After a side project on bacterial chemotaxis, she became interested in cellular heterogeneity. To explore this field, she pursued postdoctoral work at the University of North Carolina, doing single-cell enzyme assays on microfluidic devices. Her research at Trinity is focused on applying these tools to new applications, including studies of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum and the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila. She is excited to share her passion for precise chemical measurements in the classroom and in interdisciplinary research at the boundaries of chemistry, biology, and engineering.

During her postdoc, Dr. Kovarik was fortunate to be part of the Seeding Postdoctoral Innovators in Research and Education (SPIRE) program, which allowed her to integrate research and teaching during two semesters at North Carolina A&T State University. She has continued to develop her interest in teaching by participating in the NSF-funded Analytical Sciences Digital Library active learning group and chairing the American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry's Education Committee. Since 2021, she has served as a faculty co-director of Trinity's Center for Teaching and Learning.