WT Ag Professor Marcillo Selected for Prestigious USDA Fellowship

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — A West Texas A&M University agriculture professor is one of only 20 educators from Hispanic Serving Institutions around the country selected for an esteemed fellowship with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Dr. Guillermo Marcillo, assistant professor of agricultural statistics in WT’s Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, was named this month as an E. Kika De La Garza Education, High School and Science Fellow. The program links USDA and Hispanic Serving Institutions to help build awareness in Hispanic communities of USDA services, resources and employment opportunities.

“There is a pool of hundreds of applicants from all over the country for this very prestigious fellowship,” Marcillo said. “What this represents is an enormous opportunity for institutions like WT that serve a Hispanic population, and it also allows me to develop future collaborations with scientists at the federal level.”

Marcillo is one of five science fellows chosen for the De La Garza program in 2022. In addition to a week in Washington, D.C., beginning July 11, where he will interact with USDA leaders on national and regional issues and policy, Marcillo will spend an additional week working with top scientists in Genetics and Sustainable Agriculture Research Unit at the USDA Agricultural Research Service lab at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi.

Marcillo is the first WT professor selected for the fellowship.

“We are very proud that Dr. Marcello was selected for this prestigious recognition,” said Dr. Kevin Pond, dean of the Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences. “His selection underscores WT’s success and commitment in serving all people.”

Since 1998, these annual fellowships have recognized highly accomplished staff and faculty at HSIs, which are accredited and degree-granting institutions of higher education with a full-time Hispanic student enrollment of 25 percent or more. WT attained HSI status in 2016.

The program also includes faculty and staff from Hispanic-Serving School Districts, which are K-12 school districts with Hispanic student enrollment of 25 percent or more.

The fellowship will help Marcillo continue his research using artificial intelligence and big data streams from experiments, sensors and historical observations to predict impacts of sustainable agricultural practices.

“We’re in the midst of a data revolution, and my mission is to set up research and teaching programs using digital and precision technologies to help crop and livestock producers optimize their operations,” Marcillo said. “I also want to help this new generation of students gain skills in data processing and analysis to help them further their future career prospects.”

Marcillo said he’ll conduct seminars with fellow instructors in WT’s Department of Agriculture to pass along what he learns about grant and funding opportunities and research possibilities. He also will connect students to paid internship and research opportunities.

Marcillo joined WT in 2021. He earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from Army Polytechnic University in Quito, Ecuador; a master’s in agricultural economics/statistics from New Mexico State University; and a Ph.D. in crop physiology and production from Iowa State University.

Marcillo’s research into data-driven agriculture practices and his selection as a De La Garza Fellow further WT’s status as a Regional Research University, as laid out in the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign. To date, the five-year campaign — which publicly launched Sept. 23 — has raised about $110 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and more than 40 graduate degrees, including two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

—WT—