Burkenroad was born in
New Orleans in 1910 as the only child of coffee importer David Burkenroad and his artist wife Flora Salinger. His family contained many eccentrics, and Martin was similarly labeled "headstrong". He entered
Tulane University in 1926, but although he published his first
papers during that time, his studies ended when he was "'encouraged' to leave" in 1929. He then began working for the Carnegie Marine Biological Laboratory in the
Dry Tortugas, before joining the
Louisiana Department of Conservation in 1931, where he studied the local
shrimp fishery. After brief spells at several museums, he joined
Yale University under the guidance of
A. E. Parr. Burkenroad spent many productive years at Yale, where the usual time limit for research for a
dissertation was permanently waived for him, but he never submitted a dissertation. Burkenroad left Yale in 1945 and was married to Marianne Algunde Schweitzer soon after. He became the chief biologist of the North Carolina Survey of Marine Fisheries, but fell out with his superiors, and so moved to
Port Aransas to work at the marine facilities of the University of Texas. This was followed by what Burkenroad considered to be his most meaningful position, as a consultant on shrimp fishery to the governments of
Panama and
Costa Rica. Following a burst dam, however, Burkenroad's attempts to build a
shrimp farm were thwarted. In the 1960s, Burkenroad and his family (his wife and three children) returned to
New Orleans, where he worked in association with Tulane University. From 1978, he was affiliated with the
San Diego Natural History Museum. ==Work==