Meet the Team: F. Marc Michel

The National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure (NanoEarth) continues the Meet the Team Series with NanoEarth’s Deputy Director, Marc Michel, Ph.D.

Marc Michel, Ph.D., brings a multidisciplinary background spanning geoscience, environmental remediation, and nanomaterials to his role as a scientist and educator. He graduated from Colgate University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in Geology and a minor in Art and Art History. This led him to Boston, Massachusetts, where he worked as a Hydrogeologist at a small environmental consulting start-up. The company specialized in cleaning up soil and groundwater contaminated by petroleum leaks from failing storage tanks at gas stations and residences. His work involved collecting and analyzing samples and data to assess the type and extent of contamination, and partnering with construction crews during remediation activities. He then wrote technical reports that were submitted to state environmental quality agencies. This position allowed him to gain insight into starting a company, while he enjoyed his work!

Michel stayed for four years before pivoting to construction work while applying to graduate school. He aspired to become a licensed professional environmental consultant and eventually start his own company. Two paths lay before him: an applied master’s program or a research-focused one. He chose the research route and enrolled at Stony Brook University, a large R1 institution. 

In the start of his master’s program, Michel joined a geochemistry research group. As he had virtually no prior research experience, he spent much of his time washing glassware and learning about his lab mates’ projects. Thanks to his strong hands-on and mechanical skills, he earned a spot on a NASA-sponsored project aimed at understanding the role of certain minerals in forming compounds considered the building blocks of life. He learned how to synthesize and characterize minerals, including nanoparticles. 

This experience led a faculty member to suggest switching to a Ph.D. program, an opportunity he accepted during his first year. This transition allowed him to join additional projects funded by federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF). It also gave him the chance to work with one of the most advanced tools of his career: synchrotrons. These machines generate intense radiation and offer some of the most sophisticated techniques for studying the properties of matter. 

Michel earned his Ph.D. in 2007 and moved to Stanford University to conduct research at several U.S. National Laboratories. Drawing on his industry experience, he led field experiments focused on the role of nanoparticles in the geochemical cycling of environmental contaminants. After receiving an offer for an assistant professor position at Virginia Tech, he accepted and began in 2012. These seemingly random life and career experiences ultimately led him to his current role as Professor of Geosciences and Nanoscience, and Deputy Director of NanoEarth at Virginia Tech.

Michel currently teaches both undergraduate and graduate-level courses. At the undergraduate level, he teaches courses that introduce students to crystallography and mineral structure, explore the environmental behavior of nanomaterials, guide students through undergraduate research experiences, and prepare them for careers in nanoscience. At the graduate level, he teaches advanced techniques for analyzing the structure and composition of Earth and engineered materials. His environmental nanoscience research focuses on understanding how nanosized and nanostructured materials form, transform, and function in natural and engineered systems. His group is currently working on topics ranging from minerals in the atmosphere to microplastics and nanoplastics to next-generation battery materials.

Since childhood, Michel has loved creating and building. In his free time, he builds and fixes everything from decks to bathrooms to cars. Currently, he is restoring a mid-90’s Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with help from his three kids. It is currently completely disassembled and “feels like a giant puzzle waiting to be put back together”.

Given his education and professional background, Michel was a natural fit for Virginia Tech’s NanoEarth Center when it launched nearly a decade ago. The Center has provided him with opportunities to collaborate with researchers across disciplines on a wide range of topics at the intersection of nanoscience, nanotechnology, and the environment. He takes pride in leveraging his expertise, along with Virginia Tech’s state-of-the-art characterization facilities, to support NanoEarth users in advancing both fundamental and applied research.