Holly Sweat is a marine community ecologist and Smithsonian MarineGEO postdoctoral fellow. Her work focuses broadly on patterns and drivers of biogeography and biodiversity in benthic marine ecosystems. A particular emphasis of Holly’s research is examining the potential for microbes to act as ecosystem engineers by changing how macroinvertebrate and algal communities are structured. Her current project is exploring latitudinal gradients in the marine fouling microbiome with a goal toward uncovering the microbes involved in the development of these complex encrusting communities.
Education
PhD Oceanography, Florida Institute of Technology
MS Biological Oceanography, Florida Institute of Technology
BS Marine Science, Eckerd College
Research Interests
Structure and succession in benthic marine ecosystems, Marine biofilm development, Zooplankton community dynamics, larval recruitment, propagule pressure, Interactions among benthic bacteria, diatoms and recruiting larvae, Transport of microbes and macrofauna on ship hulls
