Michelle Near serves as the Safety Inspection Manager in Arizona State University’s Environmental Health and Safety department, where she leads laboratory inspection programs across academic and research facilities. She oversees a team responsible for ensuring compliance with local, state, and federal safety regulations and partners with university leadership, researchers, and facilities teams to strengthen institutional safety systems.
Michelle has more than ten years of experience in laboratory operations, chemical safety, and hazardous materials management. Prior to her current role, she supervised hazardous materials inventory operations across multiple campuses and implemented a Hazardous Materials Minimization Plan to support compliance and waste reduction initiatives.
Earlier in her career, Michelle worked in private laboratories conducting toxicological analysis on histological samples and interpreting DNA profiles for paternity testing and forensic applications. She also supported university chemistry laboratories for several years and taught as an adjunct instructor.
An Arizona native, Michelle enjoys spending time with her family and participating in sheep herding trials with her border collie.