Carmen Enid Martinez

Broadly, my research program focuses on deciphering the mechanisms and rates of reactions that mediate elemental fate and cycling in soils. My current work focuses on several distinct yet interconnected research themes: (i) iron-nitrogen-organic matter coupled cycles, (ii) solid-solution interface phenomena, and (iii) biogeochemistry of the rhizosphere: strategies to plant nutrition and toxicity.

Selected Publications

• Fine, A. K., Schmidt, M. P., & Martinez, C. (2018). Nitrogen-rich compounds constitute an increasing proportion of organic matter with depth in Oi-Oe-Oa-A horizons of temperate forests. Geoderma. 323:1-12.
• Schmidt, M., & Martinez, C. (2018). Supramolecular association impacts biomolecule adsorption onto goethite. Environmental Science & Technology. 52:4079–4089.
• Bhattacharyya, A., Schmidt, M. P., Stavitski, E., & Martinez, C. (2018). Iron speciation in peats: chemical and spectroscopic evidence for the co-occurrence of ferric and ferrous iron in organic complexes and mineral precipitates. Organic Geochemistry. 115:124–137.
• Schmidt, M. P., & Martinez, C. (2017). Ironing Out Genes in the Environment: An Experimental Study of the DNA-Goethite Interface. Langmuir. 33:8525-8532.
• Schmidt, M. P., & Martinez, C. E. (2016). Kinetic and conformational insights of protein adsorption onto montmorillonite revealed using in-situ ATR-FTIR/2D-COS. Langmuir. 32:7719−7729.
• Rosenfeld, C. E., McCormack, M. L., & Martinez, C. (2014). A novel approach to study composition of in situ produced root-derived dissolved organic matter. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 76:1-4.
• Bhattacharyya, A., Stavitski, E., Dvorak, J., & Martinez, C. (2013). Redox interactions between Fe and cysteine: Spectroscopic studies and multiplet calculations. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 122:89-100.
• Yoon, S., Yáñez, C., Bruns, M. A., Martínez-Villegas, N., & Martinez, C. (2012). Natural zinc enrichment in peatlands: Biogeochemistry of ZnS formation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 84:165-176.
• Bazilevskaya, E., Archibald, D. D., Aryanpour, M., Kubicki, J. D., & Martinez, C. (2011). Aluminum coprecipitates with Fe (hydr)oxides: Does isomorphous substitution of Al3+ for Fe3+ in goethite occur? Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 75:4667-4683.
• Martinez, C., Yáñez, C., Yoon, S., & Bruns, M. A. (2007). Biogeochemistry of metalliferous peats: Sulfur speciation and depth distributions of dsrAB genes and Cd, Fe, Mn, S, and Zn in soil cores. Environmental Science & Technology. 41:5323-5329.

Presentations and Activities

• Biological weathering in metal-contaminated soils: Influence of biologically derived dissolved organic compounds on mineral dissolution. Soil Science Society of America Meetings. November 2015. Soil Science Society of America. Minneapolis, MN. .
• Character of organic matter in deep soils of temperate forest ecosystems. International Symposium on Interactions of Soil Minerals with Organic Components and Microorganisms (ISMOM). July 2015. ISMOM. Montréal, Canada.
• Kinetic, thermodynamic and conformational insights of BSA adsorption onto montmorillonite revealed using In-Situ ATR-FTIR/2D-COS. International Symposium on Interactions of Soil Minerals with Organic Components and Microorganisms (ISMOM). July 2015. ISMOM. Montréal, Canada.
• A study of biomolecule adsorption onto ferrihydrite: Building the foundation of organo-mineral associations in soil. 17th Annual Environmental Chemistry and Microbiology Student Symposium. 2014. University Park, PA.
• The persistence of a set of biomolecules along a vertical decomposition gradient in a temperate forest surface soil. 17th Annual Environmental Chemistry and Microbiology Student Symposium. 2014. University Park, PA.
• Linking nutrient and contaminant dynamics in rhizospheres of hyperaccumulators. Goldschmidt Conference. August 2013. Florence, Italy.
• Iron Speciation in Redox Stratified Peat Soils. American Chemical Society. March 2013. American Chemical Society. San Diego, CA USA.
• Evidence for the accumulation of heterocyclic N compounds in temperate forest soils as a function of depth. Goldschmidt Conference. June 2012. Montreal, Quebec Canada.
• Nitrate transformation and immobilization: effects of biotic-abiotic and oxic-anoxic conditions. Goldschmidt Conference. June 2012. Montreal, Quebec Canada.