Marina Martínez (Barcelona, 1989) has wanted to be a geologist all her life, but her father made her interested in astronomy. She died when she was 20 years old and she decided to also study astrophysics. But she denounces the low retention of talent in Spain. She had to go to do her doctorate in the United States and in 2021 she returned to Barcelona. She has now been chosen as a NASA researcher to participate in a project working to decipher the origin, evolution and history of the lunar crust and mantle. She is a researcher at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), she will be the first person in Spain linked to SSERVI (Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute), but she will surely have to do it from another country due to lack of resources.
How did you manage to get to NASA?
Last year, a professor with whom I collaborated at the university where I did my doctorate (University of New Mexico) proposed that I become part of the team to present a project at SSERVI, to study the lunar samples that will arrive from the Artemis mission. If they financed it, they could send me samples from the Moon and this would allow me to continue researching in the lines that I began to open during my doctorate. NASA selected the project.
What will you investigate explained to someone who does not know about the subject?
The project aims to review models of formation and evolution of the Moon, which have implications for also understanding the rest of the planets, such as the Earth. For example, planetary differentiation or the Late Heavy Bombardment. We could say that the Moon helps us to understand the formation and evolution of the solar system. The current models have some inconsistencies that will now be reviewed. We also want to explore lunar resources, such as the possible presence of water and other reservoirs of interest for future human bases on the Moon.
Does it give you vertigo?
A good vertigo. Give respect. It is a challenge that motivates me and encourages me to continue growing as a scientist, and above all it will allow me to learn from the other high-level scientists with whom I will collaborate.
What attracts you most about the work entrusted to you by NASA?
To be able to participate in such an important achievement in lunar science. Receive new samples from unexplored and potentially very interesting regions that can contribute to considering new models for the origin and evolution of the Moon and its reservoirs (especially volatile elements). But I will have to do it outside of Spain. Spain will not benefit.
Won't you work for NASA from Barcelona?
That was the idea and what I would like, but I will have to go again.
Where to?
I have several options that I am still exploring with postdoc contracts in Europe.
Why can't you work from here?
Because there are no resources, no research scholarships. In Spain it is the other way around: the researcher must get the money and then the university hires you. It's a drama. It is very good that they say “the first researcher”, but there are no resources. In this NASA project I am an international researcher and the people who are in that position work wherever we are. When I returned from New Mexico I was lucky enough to take the Margarita Salas scholarship, which had not been available for years. But if not, I wouldn't have been able to do anything because the majority of research grants in Spain require a very powerful CV. There are no recent PhD graduates for researchers. In Spain you have to be a megacrack or you can't do anything.
Talent retention is zero.
Exact. We have to go. And people see it normal.
Would you want to stay?
I'd love to. I've been away for five years now. And I thought that with my experience and my resume I could do more things...
Do you think talent is valued here?
Not much. The proof is that I had to leave at the time to do my doctorate in New Mexico, because they didn't give me any scholarships here, and now it is possible that I will also have to leave when I finish my postdoc at the UAB. Since I have returned I have the feeling that I invest a very large part of my time writing projects, applying for scholarships, etc. In the United States there is not so much bureaucracy and universities have the initial money to support the professors who join them. Now, as I am incorporated into this SSERVI team, Spain has the opportunity to receive samples of the Moon from the Artemis mission, something extraordinary and that very few countries in the world have (only 5), but if I do not obtain any position where I can To develop the research I will have to leave and another country will end up benefiting.
She is a geologist and astrophysicist. Has she always wanted to be that?
Geologist yes. Since I was little I have been attracted to rocks and fascinated by minerals. And my parents always encouraged me. Astrophysics came to me when I grew up, influenced by my father, who was a physics teacher at a high school and very fond of astronomy. I had always liked it too, but after my father died when I was 20 I got more into the subject. I guess it was a way to feel closer. Finally I decided to combine both things and study space rocks, and here I found my place.
What do you think your father would think when he saw what you have achieved?
I would be crying with emotion.
Has it been hard to get here?
Yes, especially during the time when I wanted to get a doctoral scholarship here, which did not come. But I was very lucky to receive support from people who have helped me persist and above all I have always worked hard. In the United States they gave me a very good opportunity for a doctorate and I was able to develop as a scientist. When you really like something you have to fight for it, because with nothing you will work more comfortably than with what you are passionate about. And we spend most of our lives working.
Have you had to sacrifice a lot?
Of course. Above all, stability, which is needed if, for example, you wanted to start a family. My life (and that of many researchers) has been and still is marked by the uncertainty of not knowing where I will be in one or two years.
Astrophysics is a very masculinized profession. Is it difficult to put your head in?
Yes, in the field of planetary sciences it is difficult to be recognized as an equal for being a woman. We are a minority. I have always had the feeling of having to prove more and I have unconsciously strived for excellence to ensure that I am valued. I have also suffered unfortunate situations that a man does not encounter.
Do you think that your goal can encourage more young people and, especially women, to commit to research?
Hopefully. But we must invest more resources in research, commit to science and development, because if not they will force us to leave. And above all, more women are needed in science.
