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. 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 in a project to decipher the origin, evolution and history of the lunar crust and mantle. A researcher at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), she will be the first person in Spain linked to the Solar System Exploration Virtual Research Institute (SSERVI, in its acronym in English).
How did you 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 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.
What will you investigate?
The project aims to review models of formation and evolution of the Moon that also have implications for understanding the rest of the planets, such as the Earth.
Does it give you vertigo?
A good vertigo. Give respect. It is a challenge that motivates me and drives me to continue growing as a scientist.
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.
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 not from here?
Because there are no resources or 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. When I returned from New Mexico, I was lucky enough to receive 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.
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...
Is talent valued here?
Not much. Since I've been back, I have the feeling that I spend a very large part of my time writing projects, applying for grants, 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, 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 five), but if I do not obtain any position where I can develop the research I will have to leave and it will be over. benefiting another country.
What do you think your father would think when he saw what you have achieved?
I would be crying with emotion.
Was it hard to get here?
Yes, especially during the time when I wanted to get a doctoral scholarship here, which did not come. 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 sacrificed 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 they 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.
