Meet Hannah Holmes: New Assistant Professor in CEMS

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (09/22/2026) — We are excited to welcome Hannah Holmes as an assistant professor. Holmes joins the department with a passion for developing separation technologies to address environmental challenges and helping train the next generation of engineers and scientists. 

Holmes's research interests formed during her undergraduate years at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, when a lecture on climate change connected her engineering studies to challenges facing rural communities across the Midwest. 

“Having grown up in one of those rural communities, it was easy for me to imagine the consequences,” Holmes said, reflecting on a discussion of how climate change could affect Midwestern communities. “The professor ended the lecture by describing potential technological solutions for climate change, and developing those technologies became the catalyst for my early research career.” 

Working toward solutions to climate change gave Holmes a way to connect her interests with issues she cared deeply about. “Working towards solutions for climate change allowed me to use my technical chemical engineering skill set to influence the future of many communities like my hometown.” 

These interests shaped her research experiences spanning electrochemical carbon dioxide conversion as an undergraduate, carbon capture during her Ph.D. work at Georgia Tech, and wastewater resource recovery during her postdoctoral training at Stanford University. Building on these experiences, Holmes's research now focuses on advanced materials and energy-efficient processes for recovering valuable resources and removing pollutants from water and air.

A key focus of her work is connecting material design with process systems engineering, ensuring that new separation materials can be effectively applied in practical environmental and industrial technologies.

"I became increasingly interested in the gaps between molecular-level material design and process implementation, including how material behavior translates into process performance, and conversely how process constraints guide material design," Holmes said. "Bridging these different scales is a major focus of my future research."

Holmes was drawn to CEMS by the department's culture and the opportunity to work across disciplines.

“The CEMS department has a collaborative, collegial, and supportive environment that is challenging to match elsewhere,” she said. “When interacting with faculty in the department, I find myself excited about not only my own research but also new scientific areas and opportunities for collaboration that I had never considered.”

She also sees strong connections between her work and Minnesota's environmental priorities.

“Minnesota prioritizes protection of environmental resources, and I am excited for my research to contribute to those efforts,” Holmes said. “The Twin Cities are also home to many industries with important separation challenges, and I look forward to collaborating with local companies to improve existing separation technologies and develop new sustainable processes.”

While she is eager to launch her research group and build new collaborations across the department, Holmes says the opportunity to work with students is what excites her most about joining the faculty.

“For me, helping students realize their academic and professional goals is the most rewarding aspect of a faculty career,” she said. “I’m especially excited to build a research group environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and inclusivity.”

Prof. Holmes is actively recruiting undergraduate and graduate students interested in applying their scientific training to address environmental challenges. If you are interested in joining the group, please contact her at [email protected]. 

Learn more about Professor Holmes' research at her group website.