Following the Pony Express route, Miguel left natal Missouri to study ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Developing a passion not only for climbing in the Rockies but also for lodgepole pines and lime trees, he continued working in agricultural research in Colorado and Bolivia. Miguel then obtained a Master in plant breeding at Wageningen University with an internship at the MPI in Köln. Following his interests in genome editing, Miguel joined the discovery research team at Tropic Biosciences in the UK. Rumors say that for each new leaf his hand-made transgenic plants produced, he threw a small party or dyed his hair. Kind and outgoing, Miguel helps everyone in the lab improve their English or edit their favorite genes. Beside managing the international affairs and communication department of Grumpycat, he enjoys Futbol, hiking, skiing, dancing, bird watching, running, music and traveling.