Luzma Mata de Leder holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the Universidad Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City, and a Master of Science degree in Geology from Louisiana State University. Her career began in Mexico where she participated in several oceanographic expeditions as part of a marine research program conducted by the Mexican Navy Bureau. The goal of these expeditions was to collect sediment and water samples, flora and fauna from the Mexican continental margins of the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.  In Baton Rouge, she worked for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality for over fourteen years, and in 2006, she joined the Injection and Mining Division of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. She retired from state service in June 2021.

During her regulatory career, she acquired training and experience in the fields of environmental law, geology, hydrology, petroleum engineering, mining, and geospatial data analysis. She worked with the community, industry, consultants, and state and federal regulators to protect the public health and the environment of the state. Among her many responsibilities, she evaluated potential impacts to groundwater and subsurface conditions; approved Corrective Action Programs for industrial facility sites with impacted soil and groundwater conditions; approved new and existing Operating Solid Waste and Hazardous Waste Permits for regulated industrial facilities; permitted Injection wells (Classes I, II, III, and V), through the Underground Injection Protection Program; and managed and updated the Louisiana State Abandoned Mine Lands, and the Active Sand and Gravel Mine databases.