Michael Terribilini graduated from the University of California, Davis with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry. His graduate studies took him to Sonoma State University, where he earned a master's degree in computer science. He then completed a doctorate degree in genetics, development, and cell biology from Iowa State University.
Dr. Terribilini served as an assistant professor in the Biology department at Elon University in North Carolina, for eight years. He joined the faculty in the Department of Biology at BYU-Idaho in 2017.