Robert Max Holmes

Robert Max Holmes
Associate Scientist
Woods Hole Research Center
149 Woods Hole Road
Falmouth, MA 02540-1644
Phone: 508-540-9900 x148
Fax: 508-540-9700

Education

Ph.D. - Arizona State University, 1995

M.S. - University of Michigan, 1989

B.S. - University of Texas, 1988

Professional Experience

  • 2005 - present: Associate Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center
  • 1998 - 2005: Staff Scientist, Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory
  • 1995 - 1998: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Marine Biological Laboratory

Research Interests

Responses and feedbacks of the Arctic to global climate change, hydrology and biogeochemistry of rivers and estuaries, land-ocean linkages, arctic hydrologic cycle.

Selected publications

Holmes, R.M., J.W. McClelland, P.A. Raymond, B.B. Frazer, B.J. Peterson, and M. Stieglitz. 2008. Lability of DOC transported by Alaskan rivers to the Arctic Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters 35. doi:10.10289/2007GL032837 .

Peterson, B. J., et al. (2006), Trajectory shifts in the Arctic and Subarctic Freshwater Cycle, Science, 313, 1061-1066.

McClelland, J. W., et al. (2006), A pan-arctic evaluation of changes in river discharge during the latter half of the 20th century, Geophysical Research Letters, 33, doi:10.1029/2006GL025753.

Cooper, L., R. Benner, J. McClelland, B. Peterson, R. Holmes, R. Raymond, D. Hansell, J. Grebmeier, and L. Codispotti. 2005. Linkages among runoff, dissolved organic carbon, and the stable oxygen isotope composition of seawater and other water mass indicators in the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research 110:G02013, doi:1029/2005JG000031.

McClelland, J. W., R. M. Holmes, B. J. Peterson, and M. Stieglitz. 2004. Drivers of increasing river discharge in the Eurasian Arctic: considerations of dams, permafrost thaw, and fires as potential agents of change. Journal of Geophysical Research 109:D18102, doi: 10.1029/2004JD004583.

Peterson, B. .J., R. M. Holmes, J. W. McClelland, C. J. Vorosmarty, I. A. Shiklomanov, A. I. Shiklomanov, R. B. Lammers, S. Rahmstorf. 2002. Increasing river discharge to the Arctic Ocean. Science 298:2171-2173.

Holmes, R. M., J. W. McClelland, B. J. Peterson, I. A. Shiklomanov, A. I. Shiklomanov, A. V. Zhulidov, V. V. Gordeev, and N. N. Bobrovitskaya. 2002. A circumpolar perspective on fluvial sediment flux to the Arctic Ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 16:1098, doi:10.1029/2001GB001849.

Holmes, R. M., B. J. Peterson, A. V. Zhulidov, V. V. Gordeev, P. N. Makkaveev, P. A. Stunzas, L. S. Kosmenko, G. H. Kohler, A. I. Shiklomanov. 2001. Nutrient chemistry of the Ob’ and Yenisey rivers, Siberia: results from June 2000 expedition and evaluation of long-term data sets. Marine Chemistry 75(3):219-227.

Holmes, R. M., B. J. Peterson, V. V. Gordeev, A. V. Zhulidov, M. Meybeck, R. B. Lammers, and C. J. Vörösmarty. 2000. Flux of nutrients from Russian rivers to the Arctic Ocean: Can we establish a baseline against which to judge future changes? Water Resources Research 36:2309-2320.

Holmes, R. M., B. J. Peterson, L. Deegan, J. Hughes, B. Fry. 2000. Nitrogen biogeochemistry in the oligohaline zone of a New England estuary. Ecology 81:416-432.

Holmes, R. M., S. G. Fisher, N. B. Grimm, B. J. Harper. 1998. The impact of flash floods on microbial distribution and biogeochemistry in the parafluvial zone of a desert stream. Freshwater Biology 40:641-654.

Holmes, R. M., J. McClelland, D. M. Sigman, B. Fry, and B. J. Peterson. 1998. Measuring 15N-NH4 in marine, estuarine, and fresh waters: an adaptation of the ammonia diffusion method for samples with low ammonium concentrations. Marine Chemistry 60:235-243.

Sigman, D. M., M. A. Altabet, R. Michener, D. C. McCorkle, B. Fry, and R. M. Holmes. 1997. Natural abundance-level measurement of nitrogen isotopic composition of oceanic nitrate: an adaptation of the ammonia diffusion method. Marine Chemistry 57:227-242.

Holmes, R. M., J. B. Jones, Jr., S.G. Fisher, and N. B. Grimm. 1996. Denitrification in a nitrogen-limited stream ecosystem. Biogeochemistry 33:125-146.

Current projects

Synergistic activities/Achievements, awards, other activities

  • Member, SEARCH Science Steering Committee (Study of Environmental Arctic Change).
  • Chair, SEARCH Education and Outreach Working Group (Study of Environmental Arctic Change)
  • Member, NSF SNACS (Study of Northern Alaska Coastal Systems) Steering Committee.
  • Chair, NSF-CHAMP Hydrologic Change on Land Working Group. 2004-present.
  • TREC Scientist (www.arcus.org/trec), K-12 Education Program, 2004, 2005.
  • Science Steering Committee, NSF-RAISE (Russian-American Initiative for Shelf-Land Environments in the Arctic): 2001 - present
  • Member, Executive Working Group, NSF ARCSS Land-Shelf Interactions Initiative. 2002 - present.
  • Chair, American Geophysical Union Biogeosciences Membership Committee (2000-2001).