Maria was born and educated in Calgary, Alberta.  She received her doctorate from Cambridge University and has published in her research area of British sixteenth century socio-legal history.  Her story of family, cultural identity and Calgary, Spaghetti Western: How My Father Brought Italian Food to the West, was published in 2006 . Subsequently, she has written articles and contributed to collections on Italian Food in Calgary.  Maria teaches communications to Engineers at the University of Toronto. She is a founding member and Secretary of the Italian-Canadian Archives Project (ICAP.ca)