Lissa Martinez

Lissa Ann Martinez is an American ocean engineer and consultant from San Antonio, Texas. During her career, she has worked on policy-based solutions for environmental challenges. Following her graduation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Martinez worked as a federal employee for the US Maritime Administration and the US Coast Guard. Her focus was shipping-related pollution control, maritime health, and safety. Martinez has also worked for the National Research Council and was on MIT's board of trustees. In San Antonio, she has been involved with urban forestry initiatives.

Early life and education Lissa Ann Martinez was born in San Antonio, Texas on July 15, 1954. Martinez graduated from MIT in 1976 with a bachelor's degree in ocean engineering. Martinez and Daniel Leubecker's paper "Chemical Waste Incinerator Ships - The Interagency Program to Develop a Capability in the United States" was presented at a Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers meeting in 1981. She continued working for the Maritime Administration until 1983.

Urban forestry in San Antonio Following flooding incidents in 1998 and 2003, Martinez turned her focus to urban forestry. She attended the 2003 National Urban Forest Conference, participated in tree inventories and tree plantings, and measured Champion Trees. In 2009, Martinez trained as a Texas master naturalist. and monitored water quality through the citizen science testing initiative Texas Stream Team.

After reading the San Antonio Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP) and finding nothing on trees and forestry, Martinez volunteered to help with the plan.

Personal life Martinez married Brian Hughes, who she met as a fellow undergraduate at MIT. Martinez and Hughes moved back to San Antonio in the 1990s. Beginning in the late 1990s, they started investing in high-tech companies in San Antonio. They also represented MIT by recruiting and interviewing students from the area. Martinez lives in Castle Hills.