At Port Isabel Early College High School, 17-year-old James Christus Martinez might appear like the typical senior, busy with school work and getting ready for college, but there's so much more to know about him.

"I'm a part of the student council. I'm the sitting class president," Martinez said. "I'm currently involved with DECA, HOSA, UIL."

Martinez is also part of the Texas High School Coastal Monitoring Program.

"I'm in charge of a group that records the waves, the wind speed, how high the waves are hitting," Martinez said. "We graph all of our information onto a paper, and she inputs it into a database, and from there, it goes out to different government agencies to record the coastline and the erosion levels."

Martinez says his favorite part of this program is the research aspect.

"It's just so intriguing, and it might be something I can see myself doing for the rest of my career," Martinez said.

But Martinez doesn't just spend time doing research at the beach. He's also involved in the Cactus Creek Ranch Project.

"We developed an eco-friendly weed killer in our chemistry class, and from there, we're partnered with the ranch, so we go out, and we do different test spots to see how long we have to spray for," Martinez said.

His commitment to his studies has earned him several awards and even landing him a spot at the Youth Leadership Summits in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

Right now, Martinez is on track to graduate high school with his associate's degree in General Studies.

As for his future, he plans to major in Bio-Medical Engineering.

Martinez's dedication and will to help others make him this week's Student of the Week.

Watch the video above for the full story.