Principal Investigator

 Assistant Professor of Wetland Plant Ecology
Ph.D. Michigan State University

Jason Martina is an assistant professor at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX (started fall 2019). His primary research interests involve better understanding global change phenomena in wetland and grassland ecosystems. Before coming to Texas State, he was the program coordinator of the EEB and ABS programs at Texas A&M University and an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management. He received his Ph.D. at Michigan State University with Drs. Steve Hamilton and Merritt Turetsky and completed a postdoc at the University of Michigan with Drs. Deborah Goldberg and Bill Currie.
TXST Faculty Webpage

Current Graduate Students

Megan Herod
Megan is a second year MS student working on Arundo donax, an invasive wetland plant in Texas. She received her BS from the University of North Texas in ecology and environmental science. While completing her undergraduate work, Megan worked with the Army Corps of Engineers, assisting with wetland restoration projects and invasive species research.

Brianna Fogel
Brianna is a first-year MS student at Texas State interested in studying biodiversity loss and the conservation of endangered species. Currently she is working with two endangered plant species in East Texas, Leavenworthia texana and Physaria pallida, performing habitat assessment, monitoring, and outreach. She received her BS from The University of Texas at Austin in E.E.B., where she worked on geometric morphometrics of North American frogs and gut microbiotas of pollen feeding beetles. 

Traci Foulkes
​Traci received her B.A. in Geography from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a first year M.S. student working on carbon storage in diverse grassland ecosystems. Traci has been working as a conservation specialist for the greater part of the past decade conducting endangered species habitat management and surveys, flora and fauna surveys, water quality tests and prairie restoration in Central Texas. 

Current Undergraduate Students

David Molnar
David recently graduated from Texas State with a BS degree in wildlife biology. During his time as an undergrad he worked as a field technician studying the roosting ecology of evening bats and was an officer for the Bat Association at Texas State. Currently he is in the process of parameterizing A. donax and other species of interest in the Mondrian model.

Claudia Arias
Claudia is a senior at Texas State University working on her BS in Physical Geography with a minor in Biology. As an undergraduate she has worked with the Biology Field Crew under HCP, where she aided in the removal of invasive vegetation and the preservation of endangered hydrophytes in the San Marcos River. She is presently assisting in the parameterization of phosphorus in the Mondrian model.

Alex Badgwell
Alex is a senior working towards a BS in wildlife biology at Texas State University. While working on her undergrad degree she has worked with many organizations including Texas Parks and Wildlife, The International Crane Foundation, and The Wildlife Society. She is currently working on a clonal growth allocation project in the Martina lab.

James Caulfield
James is a senior at Texas State working on his B.S in wildlife biology. While attending school, James volunteers for Sallie Delahoussaye at Sallie’s Raptor Rehabilitation facility in Lockhart, Texas and is a member of the Wildlife Society here at Texas State University. Currently he is assisting in the process of parameterizing Arundo donax and other species of interest in the Mondrian model. 

Ryan Kridler
Ryan is a junior working on his bachelor's degree in Wildlife Biology at Texas State. His study and volunteer experience concentrates on birds of prey and herbaceous plants. He is a highly active member of the Wildlife & Plant Biology Societies at Texas State. He is working on a clonal allocation experiment in the Martina lab.

Sabrina Sanders
Sabrina is a senior studying wildlife biology at Texas State. Between volunteer work and playing in the Bobcat Marching Band, she is an active member of both the Wildlife Society and the Bat Association at Texas State. She is presently assisting in the parameterization of phosphorus in the Mondrian model.

Lab Alumni

Grace Vielleux (Undergraduate - Texas A&M)
Aaron Banks (Undergraduate - Texas A&M)
Ryan Doner (Undergraduate - Texas A&M)
Michael Behrendt (Undergraduate - Texas A&M)
Ramiro Ramirez (Undergraduate - Our Lady of the Lake University)
Alejandro Ramirez (Undergraduate - Our Lady of the Lake University)
Sydney Coulter (Undergraduate - Our Lady of the Lake University)
Danielle Herrera (Undergraduate - Our Lady of the Lake University)