Biography

Maria graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2011. She was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but moved to Breckenridge, CO in 2003. Prior to completing her studies in South West Florida, Maria worked in the Hospitality industry in Breckenridge, CO and Longboat Key, FL. In 2004 Maria was recognized as Vail Resorts associate of the year. Maria recently completed her Masters Studies under the direction of her mentors Dr. Susan De Long and Dr. Tom Sale. On July 2013, she defended her Master's Thesis, "Biogeochemical Characterization of a LNAPL Body in Support of STELA". She is now part of the research team at the Center for Contaminant Hydrology (CCH) at CSU. Maria is fascinated by the complexity associated with metabolic processes at a molecular level. Microorganisms are of particular interest to her because of the diversity of metabolic processes that exist in that kingdom and the potential technological applications that can be derived from such complex beings. Her research focuses in furthering the understanding about microbial processes occurring in the subsurface of hydrocarbon impacted sites. Her goal is to discover and optimize biochemical systems that can be successfully implemented as remediation technologies.