Her research focuses on how landscape disturbances resulting from climate changes and land use alter the accumulation and loss of biomass and biologically active elements in and across ecosystems. Marín-Spiotta is on the leadership board of the Earth Science Women’s Network, an organization dedicated to peer mentoring, career development, and community building for women in the geosciences. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Stanford University and her doctoral degree at the University of California–Berkeley.