Charlie Holmes II
  • Graduate Student

Biography

As a microbial ecologist with a background in literature and film studies, I focus on the activities that occur at interfaces and the impacts of those activities on their associated archives. Hydrothermal vent-associated microbial communities derive energy from hydrothermal fluid or sulfide mineral substrates when the vents are active or inactive, respectively. My current work seeks to understand how microbial communities and their metabolisms change during the transition between those periods, as well as how microbial activities on inactive sulfides mediate the fate of these mineral deposits in the deep ocean.

 

Advisor: Dr. Jason Sylvan

Research Interests

  • Microbial ecology
  • Deep/subsurface biosphere
  • Geomicrobiology
  • Future of deep-sea mineral resources

Educational Background

  • B.S., Biology, James Madison University, 2018

Awards & Honors

  • National Science Foundation S-Stem Scholar, 2021
  • Dionel E. Avilés '53 and Dr. James E. Johnson '67 Graduate Fellowship, 2018-2022
  • Louis & Elizabeth Scherck Scholarship, 2018-2019

Selected Publications

    • Greenman, N.A., Jurgensen, S.K., Holmes, C.P. II, et al. (2021). Genomics of environmental Salmonella: Engaging students in the microbiology and bioinformatics of foodborne pathogens. Frontiers in Microbiology 12, 643.

    • Reynoso, G., Smith, M.R., Holmes, C.P. II, et al. (2019). Bacterial community structure and response to nitrogen amendments in Lake Shenandoah (VA, USA). Water Science and Technology 80(4), 675-684.