Edward Martinez, originally from northern, N.M., earned his Bachelor of Science in environmental science from New Mexico Highlands University in 1994, a masters in environmental and regional planning in 1998, and a doctorate in environmental and natural resource sciences from Washington State University, Pullman in 2000.

He did his postdoc at Washington State University with the Department of Natural Resources and with the School of Veterinary Science from 2001-2002. He was an assistant professor at California State University—Sacramento from 2002-2005. From 2005 to the present he has worked as an assistant professor in forestry at NMHU.

Martinez has published in a number of scientific journals reporting the effects of exposure to various trace metals, such as zinc and lead, on mouthpart development and growth in the aquatic insect larvae Chironomus tentans which have been published in the journals Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, and Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. Martinez has also published his work on Mars Analog research which investigates the possibility of water on the Planet Mars. Currently, at NMHU he is advising various graduate students and numerous undergraduate students and is the Project Director of a USDA-HSI grant and a Department of Education CCRAA grant which aim to increase the numbers of underrepresented students majoring in STEM disciplines. Additionally he is the Project Director for the NMHU sub-award of the New Mexico EPSCoR grant.