Travis B. Meador

Travis has expertise in state-of-the-art techniques in both analytical chemistry and molecular biology to characterize the bulk chemical, functional group, and isotopic composition of physiologically and environmentally relevant molecules (i.e., biomarkers) found in natural organic matter and cultured organisms stemming from all three domains of life (i.e., Eukarya, Bacteria, and Archaea). His research has focused on biogeochemical cycles in the surface and deep oceans, as well as in estuaries, inland waters, and sediments.

Education and Academic Positions

2020-present Assist. Prof/Lecturer University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Dept. Ecosystem Biology (Budweis, Czechia)
2018-present Principal Investigator & Head of Laboratory Biology Center Czech Academy of Sciences (Budweis, Czechia)
2016-2017 Research Associate MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Research (Bremen, Germany)
2010-2015 Postdoc MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Research (Bremen, Germany)
2008-2010 Postdoc Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry (Falmouth, MA, USA)
2008 Postdoc University of the Aegean (Mytilini, Greece) and Hellenic Center for Marine Research (Anavyssos, Greece)
2008 Ph.D., Oceanography University of California San Diego - Scripps Institution of Oceanography (La Jolla, CA, USA)
2001 B.S. Marine Science University of South Carolina, summa cum laude (Columbia, SC, USA)

Research Interests

Organic Geochemistry
Biogeochemical Cycles
Stable Isotopes
Microbial Food Webs

BIOMARKer INventions and INnovations

What it is that I do here: an elevator conversation:
Firstly, can you appreciate the importance of plant life for the planet? …Over centuries we have learned the relative importance and cultivation practices of many plant species: for crops, medicine, decoration, architecture, etc. Perhaps most importantly, plants on land and in the ocean are a natural sustenance that take carbon from the atmosphere, turn it into living biomass, and produce the oxygen that we breathe.
EQUALLY IMPORTANT as carbon assimilation by photosynthesis, is the removal of organic carbon via degradation of living biomass. Humans have also learned to benefit from this natural process; examples include composting, treating wastewater, and even brewing!
WE HAVE ONLY BEGUN to explore the many varieties of carbon degradation mechanisms on Earth. I am currently researching these and other capabilities of micro-organisms in aquatic systems, marine sediments, soils, . . .

Teaching Interests

Stable Isotope Course: An introduction to uses in ecology and plant physiology University of South Bohemia & TÜM collaborative intense course
KBE/117 Biogeochemistry University of South Bohemia

Services

Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry: a collaborative service facility that aims to enable and develop stable isotope applications and to answer congruent research questions.

(continuous flow) with interfaces to EA, GC, LC, & Gas Bench

Scientific Activities

Funded Projects:

Funded Projects	Principal Investigator	Collaborators	Funding Source	Term
Microbial antioxidants as biomarkers of recalcitrant organic matter	Sofia Semitsoglou-Tsiapou	Travis Meador, Lihini Aluwihare, David Kahoun	BC Grant Program (CAS)	2019-2020
Fungal Stable Isotope Fractionation (FUNSIF)	Travis Meador	Jan Jansa (BioMed-CAS)	GAČR 20-22380S	2020-2022
Evaluating Groundwater Resources and Groundwater-Surface-Water Interactions in the Context of Adapting to Climate Change	IAEA staff & Scientists from 20+ EU countries		IAEA TC Project RER/7/013	2020-2023
Hydrogen and oxygen isotopes and cycling of humics in peat (PHOXYtopes)	Travis Meador	Petr Porcal (IHB, BC-CAS)	GAČR 21-26382S	2021-2024

Ongoing research themes:

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a black box of organic molecules in both the logistical sense, that we vaguely understand how it cycles but do not know the underlying mechanisms that control this cycling, and in the aeronautical sense, that DOM records the molecular “conversations” of events that have transpired. Indeed, DOM is often depicted as a central component in marine food webs, having important ties to all domains of life and the global C cycle; however, the processes that control its distributions and fluxes remain poorly defined and further investigation of its composition and reactivity is necessary to resolve environmental phenomena and anthropogenic forcings.

Biogeochemical Networks: The generation of large OTUs, geochemistry, lipidomic datasets has allowed for scientists to explore the relationship and potential drivers of microbial life below the seafloor. Using multi-variate analysis techniques, I am coordinating the results and efforts of a team of scientists to identify diagnostic trends in the distribution of microbes and their cell membrane biomarkers.