Michelle Yerkin has served as Chargé d’Affaires a.i. at the US Embassy in Reykjavik since June 2021.

Michelle Yerkin has served in Almaty, Kazakhstan; Panama City, Panama; Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; San Salvador, El Salvador; and most recently, in Moscow, Russia, as Acting Minister Counselor for Economic and Environment Science Technology and Health Affairs. Domestically, she served in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs (EB); the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance (AVC); and the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA). Michelle graduated cum laude from Yale University, and received her J.D. degree from the University of Minnesota School of Law.

Michelle and her husband Zhomart have four children. Michelle is a proud descendant of the White Earth Nation of Ojibwe (Chippewa) tribe of northern Minnesota. She speaks Russian and Spanish.