Michael is Research Zoologist and Curator of Marine Mammals in the Department of Vertebrate Zoology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, USA. His research centers on the evolution and systematics of cetaceans. He is particularly interested in the population and conservation genetics of small tropical cetaceans that are under increasing threats worldwide and in characterizing genetic diversity of cetaceans in Africa with the aim of adding them to worldwide datasets to examine population structure and connectivity. One of the eventual outcomes of this research is to inform conservation priorities in the region and identify distinct populations that may require greater protection.

Michael received his BA in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, MS in Biology from San Diego State University, and PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology from the University of California, Riverside. He also served as a postdoctoral associate at Wayne State University and a Royal Society Newton Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London before coming to the Smithsonian. A list of his publications can be viewed here.