Wesley Martinez

Pronouns: he/him

Bio
During his time studying history and economics at St. John’s University as a member of the class of 2018, Wesley learned how a changing climate and extreme weather impacted every civilization in a myriad of ways. This realization about the impact of climate change resonated with long-held concerns over environmental degradation and led Wesley to join the inaugural cohort of the Environmental & Climate Advocacy, Leadership & Activism certificate program at UCSB. This enabled him to secure a job as an environmental scientist at Eco & Associates, where he worked on a variety of projects related to habitat restoration at Whittier Narrows to restore coastal sage scrub and southern willow scrub habitats for Least Bell's Vireo and the California Gnatcatcher. The project involved the placement of ~70,000 native plants across 110 acres with associated irrigation, and follow-up plant transect surveys.

Wesley’s academic interests center around combining economics, policy, and business with environmental justice to combat the threat of a changing climate. The complexity of the climate crisis requires multiple collaborative solutions, utilizing both top-down and grassroots approaches to environmental justice and business. When not involved in academics Wesley can be found fencing, gardening, or spending time with friends and family.