Tracy Martens specializes in material culture and its relationship to the environment. Her research includes multidisciplinary approaches to archaeological materials, focusing on archaeological textiles. That work has provided the first evidence for mid-altitude camelid husbandry in the Southern Andes, challenging long-held paradigms about camelid fibre procurement and use along the coast. That work also provided the first comprehensive chronology of fibre types and technologies in northern Chile that diverged from established chronologies in the north of Peru, where cotton is indigenous and predates the usage of ceramics. Earlier this year, she was awarded a grant from the American Museum of Natural History to investigate regional proxies for Inka dominion, trade, and other interactions in northern Chile, where conventional reconstructions borrowed from different regions have proven problematic. Tracy has also worked in Canada and Australia as a part of cultural resource management projects, excavations, historical textile research, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions.