Marsella Macias is a California Bay Area native with over a decade of experience working specifically with agave distillates - mezcal, tequila, bacanora, raicilla, sotol. During her extensive career in the hospitality industry as an agave distillates specialist Marsella spent considerable time in Mexico learning and researching culturally significant production practices from various producers in diverse regions. She has recently shifted her focus from hospitality to academia and plans to attend grad school to pursue her MA in Latin American Studies at University of New Mexico, Albuquerque (Fall 2022) where her research will focus on agave-related subjects. Upon completing her master’s her goal is to return to California and become a professor of Latin American Studies at a Bay Area university. Borderlands Restoration Network first appeared on Marsella’s radar in 2018 through social media when a BRN agave advocacy project caught her eye. She visited BRN’s nursery last November during a Southwest road trip which resulted in her deciding she’d like to be more involved with the organization. Fast forward almost a year and Marsella is ecstatic to be a BRN Fall Intern helping with agave-focused projects in the Borderlands region and continuing her work as an agave advocate + educator.