Maram Falk is the Assistant Director of Facilities Engineering and Energy Efficiency at the University of Minnesota. Originally from Chicago, she studied Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Her work experience covers the gamut of coal power generation, natural gas power plant conversions, biofuel applications, and efficient distribution systemsas well as pharmaceutical, nutrition, and food manufacturing from FDA-certified facilities. She adopted the Golden Gopher life in 2014 to live closer to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and began working for the UMN as Senior Energy Engineer for the agriculture-oriented St. Paul campus. Through her experiences, she gained a passion for energy systems and sustainable practices. She earned a Master’s in Public Affair at the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs, aiming to better connect the technical energy world and the layman policy influencers. Through her work at UMN, she oversees the district energy conservation work for about 350 buildings across 1,500 acres, bridging multiple university initiatives to optimize energy use, advance the building automation system, and meet goals for the climate action plan and local utility energy savings.