Prior to joining COS, he was a lecturer at the University of Chicago where he taught courses on qualitative research methods, human development, health, and religion. His research experience has been interdisciplinary, drawing on his background in both psychology and anthropology as well as both qualitative and quantitative research methods. While an undergraduate, he worked in social and cognitive psychology labs, developing computer-based studies to research episodic memory in older adults and how people make character inferences about others. During graduate school, Michael worked on a team of researchers conducting a nationwide study of social health and aging in the United States. For his master’s degree, he led a qualitative research project studying Thai immigrant experiences in the US. His doctorate research included spending over two years in Thailand, doing an ethnographic study of the role Buddhist monasteries play in healthy adolescent development.

Michael received his B.A. from the University of Missouri-Columbia in Psychology with a minor in Mathematics. He completed his Ph.D. in Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago.