Hello! I’m Jaycee Martinez and before I became a Bobcat, I was a banana slug at UC Santa Cruz. I majored in Biology with an emphasis in biochemistry, but my trajectory was never crystal clear. I researched in several different subject areas including an optical physics lab, biochemical protein lab, scent extraction lab, and a methylmercury bio-accumulation lab focusing in pumas. It was in this latter experience that I discovered my true passion for working with methylmercury. When I embarked on my next academic adventure— graduate school— I decided to further explore my passion, but this time focusing on aquatic systems. My masters studies explores the bio-accumulation of methylmercury in zooplankton in Hodges Reservoir, San Diego.

Jaycee graduated with a MS in Environmental Systems in 2018 and is now working with an engineering consulting firm in the Central Valley.