Arturo Macías Franco

About Arturo Macías Franco

Born and raised in Torreón Coahuila, México, Arturo Macías Franco always dreamt of being a cowboy. He spent most of his childhood visiting his grandfather’s parcel—admiring nature and the arid agricultural operations of Northern México helped formalize his passion for agriculture. 

At 17, pursuing a better education and life, Arturo immigrated to the United States, escaping the inhabitable violence brought by the drug wars. Though challenging, his experiences as an immigrant, specifically, those in higher education allowed Arturo to find his path and give back. 

Arturo attended the Napa Valley Community College prior to transferring to the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). At UNR, Arturo was able to relive many of his childhood memories by attending an institution with a heavy emphasis on dryland agriculture systems. He completed his BSc degrees in agriculture and in veterinary science where he was recognized as the Outstanding Graduating Senior and as the college Senior Scholar. Arturo defended his MSc and PhD degrees in animal and rangeland sciences with his work on nutritional supplements, water requirements, and the use of technology and statistical models to intensify livestock production systems. He is also in the process of defending his MSc in Statistics and Data Science on his work on feature selection algorithms for agricultural datasets.

Arturo is currently an Izaak Walton Killam Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, where he continues his research in the sustainable intensification of livestock production systems and enteric emission mitigation strategies. He is interested in supporting agricultural communities by developing tools that allow producers to feed themselves and their communities more sustainably. He integrates tools and technologies through mathematical models ultimately aimed to develop decision support systems to assist producers and policy makers in pursuing more sustainable production and policy.