Mexican botanist. Martha Martínez is almost fanatical about angiosperms; she refers to them as perhaps perfect organisms. Born and educated in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, she moved to Mexico City to attend the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Here in 1985 she completed her undergraduate degree in biology with a thesis on the Euphorbiaceae genus Croton. Continuing on to postgraduate study Martínez undertook further research into this genus and was awarded a master's degree in 1996 and a PhD in 2006. For a brief period following the completion of her bachelor's degree Martínez trained as a primary school teacher and worked with children in Mexican indigenous communities.
Her career as a biological researcher unfolded solely at UNAM, in the herbarium of their Faculty of Sciences (FCME), apart from some courses she has led at other institutions such as UNICACH (the university of science and the arts in the capital of Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez) and the Colegio de Bachilleres. As a plant collector she has worked in the interesting but dangerous state of Guerrero since 1985; in the Sierra it is very easy to get lost and difficult to come across fuel and she has collected ferns and spermatophytes in some of its many isolated and exposed locations.
Martínez has been involved in a number of important floristic research projects, including the creation of a catalogue to the Euphorbiaceae of Mexico between 2004 and 2006, she has written Euphorbiaceae monographs for the floras of Oaxaca, Yucatan and Mesoamerica and the Croton monograph for the flora of Mexico. In addition to 27 published scientific articles, she has composed 12 floristic treatments, published the descriptions of some 20 new species and the book Contribución al conocimiento del género Croton (Euphorbiaceae), en Guerrero (1996). She has also been involved in editing Flora Mesoamericana and the book Biología de Angiospermas. The Berseraceae species Bursera martae Jiménez-Ram and Cruz was named in her honour.
Sources:
Personal communication, October 2009.
