Michael Fragua was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Throughout his life, he was surrounded by the outdoors through hunting and fishing, and he developed a deep commitment to land stewardship as one of his core values.

After graduating from High School, Fragua enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served as an Infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division for one term, advancing from sergeant to squad leader. Following his military service, Fragua returned to Albuquerque and pursued a B.S. in Biology at The University of New Mexico (UNM), concentrating on subjects that fueled his passion for biology, including ecology, evolution, and conservation.

During his undergraduate studies, Fragua worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge as a conservation (VDO NWR) and restoration crew member through the Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps (ALCC) program. He later continued his work at VDO NWR as a biology technician intern and obtained a biology internship through the USFWS and ALCC at VDO NWR.

Fragua is a first-year master's student in the Biology Department at UNM, focusing on conservation genetics and the phylogeography of small mammals in New Mexico. Under the guidance of Joseph Cook, he conducts research in the Mammals Division of the Museum of Southwestern Biology. His research centers on the dynamics of brown and green energy food webs among small mammals and their interactions across different trophic levels within the sky islands near New Mexico.