Michael is a pioneer in Synthetic Biology of carbon fixing microbes, with more than 15 years of experience in biotech and over 50 publications and 200 patents. Michael led several seminal studies, including providing a first genetic blueprint of anaerobic gas fermenting microbes and demonstration that these microbes can be reprogrammed for carbon-negative biomanufacturing of fuel and chemical products directly from CO2, industrial emissions, or municipal solid waste.
Since 2009, Michael is working for LanzaTech, a company that is revolutionizing the way the world thinks about waste carbon by treating it as an opportunity instead of a liability. As VP Synthetic Biology, Michael is responsible for LanzaTech’s genetic engineering platform and strain development program as well as several R&D collaborations with both industrial and academic partners.
Additionally, Michael serves as Adjunct Faculty at Northwestern University, Council Member of the Engineering Biology Research Council (EBRC), and in several scientific advisory roles. Michael is chair of the EBRC roadmapping working group, co-chaired several international meetings including the Biochemical Molecular Engineering XXII, and serves in the editorial board of Frontiers Microbiology. Michael holds a Ph.D. from University of Ulm and is one of the awardees of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge award for Greener Synthetic Pathways by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and American Chemical Society (ACS).