About

Hi, I’m Amanda Martinez, head of brand and communications at Prometheus, an energy company that has developed a new general-purpose technology to turn electrons from solar and wind and CO2 from the air into carbon neutral fuels. Our mission could not be bolder. Using advances in electrochemistry, catalysis, and membrane science, we’ve created a new source of limitless, affordable energy that does not add new CO2 to the atmosphere. Our goal is to introduce it to the world to eliminate energy poverty and raise living standards without harming the planet.

This site, however, is devoted to my work as a writer.

Before joining Prometheus, I was a science journalist. I published work with The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Scientific American, PRI’s Living on Earth, and Science News for Kids, among others, and completed a manuscript for a nonfiction book that explored the relationship between identity, memory, and nostalgia. In my quest for stories, I’ve reported from five continents. I stalked marine iguanas in the Galápagos with conservation biologists, hunted the aurora borealis, investigated the fate of plastic trash in the ocean, spent hours in an MRI machine listening to my life’s soundtrack in order to witness my brain “on nostalgia”, and had the privilege of talking to people in over 40 cities around the world about the memories that shaped and defined them. Before that, I was the environment and music editor for a weekly paper in Santa Cruz, California. It was an amazing gig that, by day, found me shadowing scientists as they probed one of the most stunning and varied ecosystems on the planet, and, by night, had me holed up in some corner of a local biker bar or blues club, reviewing a homegrown legend or touring musician as they made their way up the coast.

I’m also a playwright. My work focuses on how science and technology intersect with the human condition. I’ve written about robots, prehistoric humans, memory, and the psychology of cherished places. My plays have been produced or developed by Yale University, The Samuel French Short Play Festival, The Goodman Theatre, The Chicago Dramatists, The Skeleton Rep, and Primary Stages Einhorn School of Performing Arts in New York City. My screenplays have won more than a dozen awards at competitions in the U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands.

I hold an M.S. in Science Writing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in Playwriting from Yale University. The best way to reach me is via LinkedIn.

Photo by Bruce Willey