Program: M.M.A., graduated 2001
Current Position: Regional Program Manager, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

Biography: Catalina Martinez is a Regional Program Manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER). A certified diversity professional with three graduate degrees from URI (MS Oceanography, MMA Marine Affairs, MBA), Ms. Martinez began her ocean science career with NOAA OER in 2002 as a John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow, and has worked for the same office ever since. She established the NOAA office on the URI Graduate School of Oceanography campus in 2004 to manage important partnerships with the URI Inner Space Center and the Ocean Exploration Trust, and spent many years working on telepresence-enabled expeditions to explore little known and unknown ocean areas.
Ms. Martinez also works with a powerful community of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) champions at URI, NOAA, and other federal and academic institutions on a variety of efforts associated with mitigating the barriers to entry, persistence and success for underrepresented scholars in STEM fields. Initially known for this work while a student at URI, her continuous commitment to JEDI in STEM has been recognized more formally in recent years. She was honored with the URI Diversity Award for Staff/Administrator Excellence in Leadership and Service in 2010, and received the 2016 NOAA OAR EEO/Diversity Award for Exemplary Service for dedication to improving the representation of women and underrepresented scholars in STEM. She consistently seeks to increase potential for life success for individuals born to challenging circumstances, and was recognized by the YWCA as one of their 2015 Women of Achievement in RI for promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity. Most recently, Ms. Martinez was honored with the 2019 Women of Color in STEM Diversity Leadership in Government Award for demonstrating sustained leadership in creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive federal workforce.