Mora, Miguel
Miguel Mora
Dr. Mora is a renowned ecologist and wildlife biologist. He spent his career studying the impact of pollutants and pesticides on birds in the U.S. Southwest and Northern Mexico. Now Professor Emeritus, Dr. Mora dedicated over twenty years to the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University. Dr. Mora is a Fellow of the American Ornithologists Union and was elected to the Board of Directors of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. He was also on the Editorial Board of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and was formerly on the editorial Board.
“[Ecology] It’s fun! Stick to your goals, and the rewards will come through in the end. There are a lot of opportunities in the environmental field that are very pleasant.” – Miguel Mora, 2005
Mora, M. A. (2003). Heavy metals and metalloids in egg contents and eggshells of passerine birds from Arizona. Environmental Pollution, 125(3), 393-400.
Mora, M. A., Auman, H. J., Ludwig, J. P., Giesy, J. P., Verbrugge, D. A., & Ludwig, M. E. (1993). Polychlorinated biphenyls and chlorinated insecticides in plasma of Caspian terns: relationships with age, productivity, and colony site tenacity in the Great Lakes. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 24, 320-331.
Mora, M. A. (1997). Transboundary pollution: persistent organochlorine pesticides in migrant birds of the southwestern United States and Mexico. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: An International Journal, 16(1), 3-11.
Mora, M. A. (1996). Congener‐specific polychlorinated biphenyl patterns in eggs of aquatic birds from the lower laguna madre, texas. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: An International Journal, 15(6), 1003-1010.
Mora, M. A., & Anderson, D. W. (1991). Seasonal and geographical variation of organochlorine residues in birds from northwest Mexico. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 21, 541-548.
Miguel A. Mora was born in 1950 to Alejandro, a farmer, and Elena Mora, a stay-at-home mother. Dr. Mora, the second of seven children, grew up in a small village in Totolán, Mexico. Throughout his childhood, he was constantly outdoors and interacted with nature daily. As a result, he gained a great appreciation for the environment. Dr. Mora’s childhood exposure to nature would lead him to pursue a career in ecotoxicology.
Dr. Mora attended high school at Vocacional 6, National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico City. When Dr. Mora was a senior in high school, he received his first environmental position in a laboratory with the wildlife department of a governmental agency in Mexico City. While there, he was a technician assisting the biologists with lab and fieldwork.
Dr. Mora completed his Bachelor of Science in Biochemical Engineering at the Instituto Politecnico Nacional in 1977. Shortly after completing his bachelor’s, Dr. Mora moved to the United States to attend the University of California at Davis. Dr. Mora received funding support from two CONACYT Fellowships, one in 1981 and one in 1985. In 1984, Dr. Mora completed his Master of Science in ecology before earning his Ph.D. in ecology in 1990.
“Education is the key to success,” says Dr. Mora, who secured a post-doctoral position at Michigan State University upon completing his doctorate (2016). While a postdoc, Dr. Mora was a Research Associate for the Michigan State University Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and Pesticide Research Center from 1990 to 1992. From 1991 to 1992, Dr. Mora also consulted with Ropes & Gray Attorneys at Law in Boston.
Dr. Mora met scientists who worked in wildlife and general ecotoxicology at networking events. This networking was vital to his professional development as a scientist. In 1993, Dr. Mora accepted the United States Geological Survey (USGS) position as a Research Wildlife Biologist. In 1995, while still a research biologist, Dr. Mora began teaching at Texas A&M University as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Science. Three years into his position at the USGS, Dr. Mora faced the lowest point of his career. Due to the agency’s financial troubles, many people were forced to resign, and Dr. Mora also came close to losing his job. Luckily, he could remain with the organization through this rough patch.
Dr. Mora is an expert in ecotoxicology and avian ecology. He researches the impacts and effects of pollutants, including pesticides, metals, and organic pollutants, on birds. His work focuses on the U.S. Southwest and the U.S.-Mexico border throughout Texas, Arizona, and California. Specifically, in the U.S. Southwest, he examines the impacts of environmental contamination on aplomado and peregrine falcons.
In 1999, Dr. Mora began teaching at Texas Tech University as an Adjunct Professor. In 2000, Dr. Mora was promoted to USGS Field Station Leader and Research Wildlife Biologist and received the Star Award from the USGS. In 2003, Dr. Mora became an Adjunct Professor at the Intercollegiate Faculty of Toxicology at Texas A&M. Dr. Mora was named an Honorary Member of the Science Advisory Board of the Instituto Tecnologico de Jiquilpan in 2004. In 2005, Dr. Mora received the USGS Star Award again, and in 2006, he received the Central Region Diversity Award from the USGS for his efforts to increase diversity at the agency.
In 2007, he left the USGS when Texas A&M offered him a full-time, full-professor position in the Wildlife & Fisheries Science Department. At the same time, he was jointly appointed Professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine. In 2007, Dr. Mora was named a Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union. In 2008, he received the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Certificate of Appreciation for advancing minority students’ STEM interests. Since 2009, Dr. Mora has been the Associate Editor for Avian Ecotoxicology for the journal Ecotoxicology. In 2009, he founded a Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) chapter at Texas A&M.
In 2012, Dr. Mora received the Diversity Service Faculty Award from Texas A&M. In 2013, SACNAS recognized him with the Distinguished Scientist National Award; in 2016, he received the Distinguished Member recognition. In 2018, he received the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Fellowship (2018), the Distinguished National Scientists Award (2013) from the Society of Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, and the (2012) from Texas A&M University.
Dr. Mora is most proud that he achieved an excellent education and obtained his doctorate in ecology. When Dr. Mora was in high school, getting a job that would allow him to complete his studies was challenging. Dr. Mora says that the school system in Mexico was not as flexible as it was in the United States. Thus, he had to find a way to afford an education. In Mexico, the priority was to make money to survive, not to go to school. The time for studying was limited, and knowing he was always teetering on the brink of financial ruin was very stressful. Every year that Dr. Mora completed or advanced in school was a great accomplishment for him.
He says that his most outstanding achievement was the completion of his research regarding the impact of environmental contaminants on bird populations. Through his career’s high and low points, Dr. Mora remained committed to his profession because he loved being outdoors and found his job more rewarding than other occupations.
Dr. Mora says he advanced to his current Professor position by “getting the job done” (2016). The job entailed researching, publishing papers, and presenting at scientific conferences. Throughout his undergraduate and graduate studies, Dr. Mora had great mentors, and he gives them credit for helping him advance. His advisors in undergraduate and graduate school and his family all served as mentors by providing “the right advice at the right time” and by helping him focus his efforts on his research projects (2016). More specifically, when Dr. Mora worked for the Department of Wildlife in Mexico City, a professor of the School of Biological Sciences working for the Department of Wildlife noticed Dr. Mora’s curiosity for science. “Dr. Ticul Alvarez encouraged me to write my first two papers in Spanish and consider attending graduate school at a USA University where he had also studied,” Dr. Mora recalls (2016).
Dr. Mora received invaluable mentorship, so he tries to support other young scientists by mentoring with the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). SACNAS is an organization that promotes quality education in the sciences and supports increasing the number of minorities pursuing degrees in the environmental field. For the past twenty years, Dr. Mora has been an active member of this organization. He was on the SACNAS Board from 2002-2004 and served a second term (2014-2016) as a member of the Board of Directors.
Dr. Mora also conducts seminars and scientific meetings to help prepare students for careers in the sciences. Dr. Mora was also a mentor in the Sloan Scholars Mentoring Network (SSMN) for about 15 years and has been part of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry since 1992. He currently works to diversify the environmental field through his work in other scientific societies.
Dr. Mora advises students and young professionals never to give up, to pursue their dreams as much as possible, seek professional advice, and help others find avenues for success when necessary. Dr. Mora recommends getting active in professional societies, attending meetings, and socializing with other professionals to increase your network and become better known.
Mora, Miguel A. 2018. Miguel A. Mora. Curriculum Vitae. Texas A&M University, https://eccb.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Mora-CV-180904.pdf
Miguel Mora. n.d. Texas A&M University, Ecology & Conservation Biology, https://eccb.tamu.edu/people/mora-miguel/
Taylor, Dorceta (Ed.). 2005. The Paths We Thread: Profiles of the Careers of Minority Environmental Professionals. Minority Environmental Leadership Development Initiative, University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment. n.d.About. Wildlife Ecotoxicology. https://agrilife.org/ecotoxicology/dr-mora/