Bibi Macias is the middle child of a Chilanga and Regio-Montano. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, she grew up in the food industry learning about the complex food chain production at her parents’ Mexican restaurant and her father’s wholesale produce company. Her love for the natural world was forged while enjoying the green spaces of Austin, seeing the preservation of the springs and trails as an essential duty.
At the University of Texas, she studied Economics, Sustainability, and Latino/a Studies, immersing herself in the power of community-based participatory research, student-led culturally relevant programming, and archival justice. While in undergrad, she had the opportunity to study sustainable management in Ireland, design-thinking in Denmark, and maize visualizations in Guatemala and Belize. Her desire to dive further into food scholarship led her to the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) where she recently graduated from her Masters.
While at SEAS, she traveled to Colombia to learn from environmental advocates in the Amazon rainforest and worked on a capstone titled “National Roadmap to Ending Utility Shut-offs” with peers. Bibi is an Environmental Fellow alum with the Center for Community Progress where she researched the environmental work of land banks across the country. She is looking forward to pursuing law and studying the intersection of land-holding, race-making and food policy in the near future.