Michel is an ecologist, animal behaviorist, nutritionist (PhD thesis in 1989), and research director at INRAE (National Institute for Research in Agriculture, Food and Environment), UMR Mediterranean and Tropical Livestock Systems (Selmet) of Montpellier. In the course of his career, he has studied livestock farming and herd management practices for grazing herbivores on rangelands (natural grasslands, scrublands and undergrowth, particularly bushy environments), in relation to grazing behavior response in animals. His research was conducted under real-life conditions, with family farmers and salaried shepherds, focusing on herding practices that have a direct and positive impact on the animals' appetite to feed themselves abundantly and from a wide diversity of plants. More recently, he has been interested in shepherds’ experiential knowledge and practices that encourage naïve animals to learn about new fodder plants, environments and living conditions. Since 2016, Michel has been the coordinator of the COADAPHT network of researchers.