Maria Manta Conroy is an Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning at The Ohio State University. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Science in Systems Engineering and a Master of Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests are focused on planning for sustainable development, especially in terms of plan quality and watershed-based planning; enhancing participation processes; and planning around sensitive and protected lands, including water related resources. She and lead author Dr. Philip Berke were awarded the 2001 American Planning Association’s National Planning Best Article award for Are we Planning for Sustainable Development? An Evaluation of 30 Comprehensive Plans. In 2023 she published a longitunidinal evaluation of the original plan set with former doctoral student Dr. Jessica P. Wilson also in the Journal of the American Planning Association. As part of the University's Sustainability Education and Learning Committee, she has been part of the Provost directive on Advancing Sustainability Education at OSU and is lead on a manuscript related to that effort currently under review.