I received my bachelor's degree in Agronomy with a specialization in Plant Health from the Chapingo Autonomous University in Mexico in 2022. After that, I worked for one year at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), where my research project was on elucidating plant pathogen interactions in the tar spot disease of maize. As an undergrad and during my first job experience, I became interested in joining wet lab and computational approaches to better understand biological processes in plants and associated organisms.

I graduated with a Bachelor's and Master's degree from Huazhong Agricultural University. I have a relatively rich background in bioinformatics and plant lipid metabolism genetics. Currently, I am working in Edgar Cahoon's laboratory, focusing on carrot polyacetylene biosynthesis and metabolism.

I graduated with a bachelor's degree in Agronomy and Seed Science with a minor in Statistics from Iowa State University, where I became interested in applying data science, statistics and computational methods to agronomic data to improve the sustainability of crop production. Under Dr. Schnable, my current research focuses on understanding the interaction between genetics, the environment, and management practices of hybrid maize, with a specific focus on nitrogen use efficiency.

Michael obtained his biotechnology undergraduate degree at the Brandenburgische-Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) in Senftenberg, Germany. In his last year before graduation, he completed two research internships at UNL, Lincoln, NE and Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. To pursue further education, Michael then entered UNL as a Ph.D. student under Dr. Richard Wilson where he works on the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae.

He hails from the small town of Sandy Point, located on the small island of St.Kitts within the Caribbean region.