Dr. Holmes’ work has been featured in the New York Times and on 60 Minutes. He speaks frequently on climate-related topics, and has appeared at the Aspen Ideas Festival and Mountainfilm Festival. He previously served as the Director of the National Science Foundation’s Arctic System Science Program and in 2015 was named National Fellow of the Explorers Club.
Dr. Max Holmes is motivated by a vision of science that connects people with each other and the natural world, and which makes a positive impact in society. This is reflected in the collaborative, community-based river research programs he has created, most recently Science on the Fly, an initiative that unites the fly-fishing and science communities to study and protect rivers around the world. His research spans the globe–from the Siberian Arctic to the tropical Amazon–and focuses on how climate change and other disturbances impact water and chemical cycles in the environment. He is also interested in the vast quantities of ancient carbon held in Arctic permafrost, which may be released as permafrost thaws, exacerbating global warming.
Dr. Holmes joined Woodwell Climate in 1995 and served as Deputy Director for five years prior to taking on his current role as Acting President and Executive Director. He continues to lead multiple large river research networks, including the Arctic Great Rivers Observatory and the Cape Cod Rivers Observatory, and co-directs the Global Rivers Observatory.
