As the Global Principal of ILAB, Maria leads integrated research and innovation initiatives to develop the future of net zero carbon. Prior to joining AECOM, she co-founded Terreform ONE, an internationally recognized, research-based non-profit that combats the extinction of planetary species through pioneering acts of architecture and urban design. Previously, Maria was the inaugural University Leader for ARUP in the Americas, where she was responsible for strategic planning, curating, and performance. She also served as the institutional adviser to New Lab and helped raise $45 Million to build a state-of-the-art research and fabrication facility. In 2019, Maria curated the American Pavilion at the XXII Triennale de Milano. Her work has been the official selection at the Venice Biennale; exhibited at MoMA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the New Institute in Rotterdam; and published internationally. Her most recent book is Design with Life: Biotech Architecture and Resilient Cities. Maria has received numerous awards, including the Women Economic Forum’s Woman of the Decade in Science and Design Leadership. She served as the Academic Director of Global Programs at CIEE, and taught at Parsons School of Design, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in Barcelona, Cornell University, and Pratt Institute. Maria received a B.Arch. from Wentworth Institute of Technology, an M. Arch. in Urban Design from Harvard University, and a Dipl.-Ing. from the Technical University of Vienna, Austria.