John Martinez has been passionate about astronomy and space since his first view of Saturn through a childhood telescope, becoming his gateway into science and a lifelong journey of personal discovery and learning. He was a young teenager during NASA's Apollo Moon landing missions, and they had an awe inspiring effect on his imaginings of what else might be "out there" in the Solar System and beyond, waiting to be discovered. For many years John was Project Manager of LCO Global Telescope in Santa Barbara, California. LCOGT's science mission focused on discovery and/or characterization of exoplanets, supernovae, and near-earth objects. To this end, John was deeply engaged with the design, fabrication, and deployment of their 1-meter class research telescopes and observatories to various mountaintop sites in the U.S. and around the globe. John is a member of the Pontchartrain Astronomy Society, the Society for Astronomical Sciences, and the American Astronomical Society. John has participated in hundreds of astronomy engagements with school groups and the general public. There is nothing he enjoys more than sharing with others our human mission to explore, through telescope and spacecraft, this Solar System and Universe we call home.