Dr. Martinson has attempted to strike a balance among teaching, research, and service in his forty years as a professor of Geography at five universities. Dr. Martinson has taught over thirty separate courses in his career, including Auburn's first full multimedia Web-based course, its first quarter-long live inter-university televised course, and the first Web-based course approved for distance learning by the Southern Regional Education Board. Dr. Martinson has taught workshops at Auburn and in Latin America (in Spanish) on implementing digital technology in Geography instruction.
Dr. Martinson has received over forty grants to support his travel, research, and service activities, including many competitive grants and awards. Among these was an award from the Daniel F. Breeden Endowment for Faculty Enhancement in recognition of excellence in teaching. He has offered over seventy presentations on his research activities, has written, edited, or written chapters in ten books, has over thirty published papers on his research, and has written over thirty reviews and abstracts. Dr. Martinson continues his research and publication in Cultural Geography and the Geography of Latin America.
Dr. Martinson has served as a Director of International Studies, Associate Director of Research, and, at Auburn University, the Director of Social Science Research in the College of Liberal Arts and Head of the Department of Geography. He has served on international, national, regional, and campus committees. He is a founding member of the Geography Educators Network of Indiana, a Contributing Editor to the Handbook of Latin American Studies (appointed by the Librarian of Congress), and a founding member and Executive Secretary of the Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers, the largest regional association in the Geography profession. He has been the president of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, the Midwest Assocation for Latin American Studies, on the Board of Directors of the National Council for Geographic Education, editor of the Geographical Survey (a quarterly Geography journal), and the United States Member for Geography of the Pan American Institute of Geography and History.
Martinson, T.L, 2006, The built environment, in Barney Warf, (Ed), Encyclopedia of Human Geography, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, p. 22-23 (invited paper).
Martinson, T.L, Chapter Editor, 2004, Cultural Patterns and Processes, in Gary S. Elbow, (Ed.) Teaching Human Geography, National Council for Geographic Education, p. 33-51 (invited paper).
Martinson, T.L., and Elbow, G.S., 2003, Geography: Middle America: Handbook of Latin American Studies, vol. 59, p. 347-362.
