Maria was born and raised in Arizona. She attended Arizona State University and graduated with a B.S. in biochemistry, a minor in political science, and a certificate in international studies. She conducted research on endemic parasitic diseases and completed her honors thesis on trends in asylum policy. She was very involved in the Phoenix community, as a volunteer with a student-run tutoring/mentoring organization of refugee youth and through her work on numerous local campaigns. She was a 2019 Boren Scholar to Jordan and a 2020 Fulbright Scholar to Malaysia. For the past three years, Maria has worked at CRDF Global, managing projects primarily funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. She has implemented projects related to biosecurity, nuclear security, and capacity-building for advanced reactor nuclear energy programs with a range of global partners. She also managed the organization’s Women in Science & Security initiative. She is a 2023 Rangel Scholar and will enter the U.S. Department of State after graduating. This past summer, she interned at the U.S. Department of State in Taipei, Taiwan. Maria is passionate about science and security, nonproliferation, and energy/environment. At Princeton, she will continue to explore these topics as well as how to utilize international cooperation to address the transnational challenges of the future.