Patricia (Trish) Holden earned her Ph.D. (Soil Microbiology) from UC Berkeley in 1995, preceded by her Masters’ (ME from UCB, MS from Purdue University) and B.S. (University of Tennessee) in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She joined the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management in 1997, where she is a Professor. She also directs the UCSB Natural Reserve System. Her research regards environmental microbiology in the contexts of natural processes, interactions with materials, remediation, and public health. She is a Switzer Environmental Fellow.