If you are very interested in joining our research group in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Old Dominion University, you are welcome to contact me here at this e-mail address: aholder@odu.edu. I would like to share to you some videos of some of the undergraduate students who have excelled under my guidance in the past; please click here and here to see Faye, Michelle, Javelyn, and Luke!!

We recently hosted a 2017 summer REU with two undergraduate students in my laboratory.  For more details, please see this link.  The photographs in this link and another link were well-received as we usher in the future STEM scientists.

Some of the researchers with me, Kelsey, Jorge, and my son

The students’ acknowledgement was as follows:

First, we would like to thank the National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant # 1560194 for sponsoring our Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). Our advisor, Dr. Alvin Holder and his research group for giving us this amazing opportunity. Dr. Zhang and Dr. Kumar for being the coordinators and organizing the REU program. The National Science Foundation again for the CAREER Award as this material is also based upon work supported by the NSF under CHE-1431172 (formerly CHE-1151832) and lastly, the ODU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for providing us with its vast supply of valuable instruments.

Should you desire to apply to our graduate programme, please do so by clicking here.  For now, please meet our current and former group members, inclusive of those from previous institutions that I have worked at in the past:

The current group members are as follows:

Our research group on Wednesday, October 11, 2023.  Back row, L-R: Divine Satchivi Akakpo, Sidy Diawara, Koral Mack-Plaza, and Bekah Kimmah.  Front row:, L-R: Me, Duaa Alajroush, Elizabeth Tonsel-White, Aissatou Lo, and Tanaya Washington.

The PI:

Alvin A. Holder obtained his B.Sc. (Special Chemistry) and Ph.D. (Inorganic Chemistry) degrees from The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica. Currently, he is an Associate Professor in Chemistry at Old Dominion University. His current research revolves around bioinorganic and transition metal chemistry. His hobbies are as follows: Athletics, bodybuilding, fitness, and good health for longevity, baking, cooking, eating good food, listening to reggae and dance hall music, playing cricket, going to the beach, hiking, reading, photography, travelling, and liming with positive and down to Earth people.

Current and former graduate students at ODU:

Current graduate students:

To be updated soon!

Elizabeth Tonsel-White

Criszcele Tano

Duaa Alajroush

Khadija Faye

Former graduate students:

August 2013-December 2020: Dr. Michael J. Celestine received his B.Sc. (Chemistry) degree from The University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands in 2012. In August 2015 he obtained is M.S. (Inorganic Chemistry) degree from Old Dominion University with Dr. Holder as his research mentor.  In December 2020, he obtained Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Dr. Holder. His research focused on the production of renewable fuel through the use of first-row transition metals. He is a research and development chemist for a hemp/cannabis company in Suffolk, Virginia.  His hobbies are as follows: Archery, doodling, swimming, watching anime, and travelling.

August 2014-December 2020: Dr. Raj K. Gurung received his B.Sc. (Chemistry) and M.S. (Chemistry) degrees from Tribhuvan University, Nepal in 2007. In December 2020, he obtained Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Dr. Holder. His research involved designing, synthesizing, and characterising novel titanium(IV) Schiff base complexes. He was a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Michael Doyle’s laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Texas, San Antonio, Texas.  He is a senior scientist at Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories. His hobbies are as follows: Hiking, playing and watching soccer, and listening to music.

Former graduate students at ODU:

Jimmie L. Bullock Jr., M.S. (October 2013-May 2016).  He was a Ph.D. student in chemistry at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky. He is a Research Associate II at Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland.

Current and former undergraduate students at ODU:

Current undergraduate students:

To be updated soon!

As a key note, photographs of current and past group members are shown here:

An exciting video of my former USM research crew in Jamaica is shown below

Former undergraduate students:

Kathy E. Currie, B.S. (August 2014-May 2016).  Kathy is currently pursuing her Pharm.D. degree at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, Seattle, Washington.

Katrina A. Wesley, B.S. (November 2015-May 2016).

Kimberly V. Aguilar, B.S. (December 2015-May 2016).

Deondra T. Brown, B.S. (January 2016-December 2016).

Audrey K. Wells, ODU student (January 2016-May 2016).

For a comprehensive listing of my current and former mentees, please see the following:

FULBRIGHT FELLOW(S)

At the  University of Southern Mississippi (USM):

Dr. Varma H. Rambaran, University of Trinidad and Tobago (05/11-07/11).

Fulbright NEXUS Scholar: Ms. Megan Cox, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), Husbands, St. James, Barbados (approved for 02/01/13-04/30/13).

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS

Dr. Varma H. Rambaran at USM (06/07-08/07). He is an Associate Professor in Chemistry at the University of Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr. Sarmistha Halder-Sinha at USM (2008-2008). She is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Georgia State University.

Dr. Lesley Lewis-Alleyne at USM (2009-2009).  She is Chair, Department of Chemical & Physical Sciences, School of Sciences & Technology, University of the Southern Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr. Mark Lawrence at ODU (2014-2015).  He is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Chemistry at UWI, Mona Campus, Jamaica.

GRADUATE COMMITTEE MEMBER

Mentored students are shown with an *

At ODU

Dissertation and thesis committees:

Dissertation and thesis committees chaired by Alvin Holder with students already defended:

08/15: Michael J. Celestine, M.S. (Inorganic Chemistry), Old Dominion University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Norfolk, VA 23529, U.S.A.  Thesis title: Synthesis, characterisation, electrochemical, and spectroscopic studies of cobaloximes: Unique clues of cobalt(I) species in various solvents.*

URL: http://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=chemistry_etds

 05/16: Jimmie L. Bullock, M.S. (Inorganic Chemistry), Old Dominion University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Norfolk, VA 23529, U.S.A.  Thesis title: Synthesis and Mechanistic Investigations of Transition Metal Complexes and Ligands for Biomedical Applications.*

URL: http://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=chemistry_etds

Dissertation and thesis committees chaired by Alvin Holder:

08/13-present:  Mentor of Michael Celestine, M.S. (Ph.D. student)*

08/13-05/16:  Former mentor of Jimmie Bullock (M.S. student)*

08/14-present: Mentor of Raj Gurung (Ph.D. student)*

01/19-present: Mentor of Criszcele Tano (Ph.D. student)*

01/19-present: Mentor of Elizabeth Tonsel-White (Ph.D. student)*

At USM

SUPERVISION/MENTORING OF GRADUATE STUDENTS:

Supervised seven (8) rotating graduate students (LaMaryet Moody, Shawna Balof, Subir Kapuria, Liu Yang, Nerissa Lewis, Joshua Phillips, LaCrissia Bridges, and Yiliyasi Wusimanjiang) between the period, 08/21/2006-09/19/2012, at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Graduate Dissertations

10/03: Sophia C. Marshall, Ph.D. (Inorganic Chemistry), U.W.I., Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. Thesis title: “The Kinetics and Mechanism of the Decomposition of Several Vasodilators by a Bronchoconstrictor, Aqueous Sulphite.”  She is employed as a Scientific Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Barbados.

11/07: Gabriel Harewood, Ph.D. (Inorganic Chemistry), U.W.I., Mona Campus, Jamaica.  Thesis title: “Synthesis, Characterisation, and Structural Elucidation of Some Salicylaldimine-based Ligands and their Corresponding Metal Complexes.”  He is a Sessional Lecturer/Lab Coordinator at the University of Toronto, Canada.

12/07: Ross F.G. Brown, M.Phil. (Inorganic Chemistry), U.W.I., Mona Campus, Jamaica.  Thesis title: “Kinetics and Mechanisms of Reactions of Sodium Diaquo-4,4’,4’’,4’’’-Tetrasulphophthalocyaninecobaltate(II) and its Nitrosated Analogue with Various Nitric Oxide Donors and Selected Thiols.”  He is a high school science teacher in Barbados.

06/08: Vince C.R. Payne, Ph.D. (Inorganic Chemistry), U.W.I., Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. Thesis title: “The Synthesis and Structural Characterisation of some 2,6-Pyridinedicarboxylate-containing Complexes of Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, and Nickel.”  He is a tutor in chemistry at UWI, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados.

12/09: LaMaryet Moody, M.S. (Inorganic Chemistry), The University of Southern Mississippi, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Hattiesburg, MS 309401, U.S.A.  Thesis title: “Development of New Photodynamic and Therapeutic and Anti-bacterial Agents.” She is a Technical Applications Specialist at Tapis Corp, Dallas, Texas.

12/11: Nerissa A. Lewis, M.S. (Inorganic Chemistry), The University of Southern Mississippi, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Hattiesburg, MS 309401, U.S.A.  Thesis title: “Chemical, Biological and Preliminary In Vitro Studies of Novel Vanadium(IV) Complexes With Schiff Bases and Thiosemicarbazone Ligands.” She is an assistant Professor in Chemistry at Walla Walla University, Washington.

08/15: Michael J. Celestine, M.S. (Inorganic Chemistry), Old Dominion University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Norfolk, VA 23529, U.S.A.  Thesis title: “Synthesis, characterisation, electrochemical, and spectroscopic studies of cobaloximes: Unique clues of cobalt(I) species in various solvents.” He is a research and development chemist for a hemp/cannabis company in Suffolk, Virginia.

05/16: Jimmie L. Bullock, M.S. (Inorganic Chemistry), Old Dominion University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Norfolk, VA 23529, U.S.A.  Thesis title: “Synthesis and Mechanistic Investigations of Transition Metal Complexes and Ligands for Biomedical Applications.” He is a Research Associate II at Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland.

12/20: Michael J. Celestine, M.S., Ph.D. (Inorganic Chemistry), Old Dominion University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Norfolk, VA 23529, U.S.A. Thesis title: Synthesis, characterization, and kinetics studies of new cobalt(II/III) complexes for the production of H₂. He is a research and development chemist for a hemp/cannabis company in Suffolk, Virginia.

12/20: Raj K. Gurung, M.S., Ph.D. (Inorganic Chemistry), Old Dominion University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Norfolk, VA 23529, U.S.A. Thesis title: Synthesis, characterization, spectroscopic, and mesomorphic studies of new Schiff base ligands and titanium, cobalt, nickel and copper metal centers. He is a senior scientist at Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories.

UNDERGRADUATE SUPERVISION

USM: Supervised 73 undergraduate students at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) for the period 08/21/2006-08/12/2013.  Some of those great students included the following: Ms. Laura Menocal (a former student at Stony Brook University), Ms. Tiera Corey,  Ms. Tippie Altramiese, Ms. Eva Clark, Ms. Shanika Smith, Ms. Camille Cooper, Ms. Angelica McIntyre, Ms. Dulana Reese, Ms. Ykeysha Wooten, Ms. Alexis Huddleston,  Mr. Luke Seymour, Ms. Jessa Faye Arca, Mr. Robert Johnson, Mr. Travis Erves, Mr. Stuart E. Ramsdale, Ms. Michelle Gordon, Ms. Javelyn Stubbs, Dr. Erick Moffett, Ms. Jennifer Vital, Ms. Dorothy Horton, Ms. Toyketa Horne, Mr. Jonn S. Mendy,  Ms. Whitney LaGrone, Mr. Amlan Mitra, Ms. Jessica Panella, Ms. De’Andra L. Newton, Mr. Justin Moreira, Mr. Jason F. Olaivar, Dr. Marauo Davis, Ms. Kelsey Carter, and Mr. Anthony Magnusen.

ODU:

Fall 2013: Courtney Stankavich (nee Baxter), Dominique’ Washington, and Dennis J. Houghton

Spring 2014: Dominique’ Washington, Edward Artis, Dennis J. Houghton, and Seth Smith (a Ghent Montessori School middle school student)

Summer 2014: Lorne Joseph (The University of the Virgin Islands), Deisy Esquivel (Johnson C. Smith University), and Stacy Champaigne Williams, Jr. (a former senior of Grassfield High School, Chesapeake, now an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech)

Fall 2014: Matthew Brewer and Kathy Currie

Spring 2015: Kathy Currie, Jere Combs, and Caitlyn Galbraith

Summer 2015: Lorne Joseph (The University of the Virgin Islands)

Fall 2015: Kathy Currie, Halie Maass, and Maeva Mbongo

Spring 2016: Kathy Currie, Jaya Chhabra, Kaleab Fetahi, Ndeye Sall, Deondra Brown, Kimberly Aguilar, Maeva Mbongo, Brianne Nunez, Audrey Wells, and Katrina Wesley

Summer 2016: Brianna Scotland (The University of the Virgin Islands), Jaya Chhabra, Jayden Eppley (a Hickory High School student), Justin Henson (a Granby High School student), and Tiffany Alfred (an undergraduate student from Norfolk State University)

Fall 2016: Brianne Nunez, Ndeye Sall, Brenna Call, and Adwoa Sika

Spring 2017: Liana Brown, Ndeye Sall, Ella Kloster, Halie Maass, Maeva Mbongo, Brianne Nunez, Amyola Jean-Baptiste, Criszcele Tano, Chelsea Peer, and Kristen Burley.

Summer 2017: Abbygail Reid (Engineering summer REU student from the University of Central Florida), Maurice S. Dilán Hernández (Engineering summer REU student from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez), Criszcele Tano, and Connor Orrison.

Fall 2017:  Elizabeth Lynch, Alexis Tran-Thompson, Cordelia Aldridge (a Granby High School student), Louise Baptist (a Granby High School student), and Nicholas Evaristo.

Spring 2018: Jennifer Mejia, Phylicia Chambers, Nicholas Evaristo. Brianne Nunez, Benjamin Legere, Connor Orrison, Deahneece Ridgell, Naser Salem, Ethan Gray, and Louise Baptist (a Granby High School student).

Summer 2018: Jennifer Mejia, Emily Marquez (Long Beach City College, California), Narome Belus (The University of the Virgin Islands), and Chekeyl Harold (Tidewater Community College).

Fall 2018: Jennifer Mejia, Halie Maass, Phylicia Chambers, Isaiah Barker, Nicholas Evaristo, Naser Salem, Mary Bordeaux, Deahneece Ridgell, Chloe Smith, and Francis Dervent.

Spring 2019: Jennifer Mejia, Halie Maass, Nicholas Evaristo, Phylicia Chambers, Naser Salem,  Deahneece Ridgell, Chloe Smith, Ashanti Cameron, Garry Nichols, Delvin Askew, Jasmine Clark, and Khadija Faye.

Summer 2019: Gregory Mytych (Clemson University), Nicole Rehtmeyer (Del Mar College,  Corpus Christi, Texas), Jayden Eppley (North Carolina State University), Kayla Johnston (Elizabeth City State University), Tekettay Ludvig (The University of the Virgin Islands), and Sydney Foster (Saint Martin’s University).

Fall 2019: Lindsay Day, Chloe Smith, and Jasmine Clark.

Spring 2020: Chloe Smith, Jasmine Clark, Dale Rise, Darryl Owusu Ansah, Nicholas Collet, Ethan Schroeder, Angelo Garcia, Tonya Bibalo, Jenille Pope, and Lindsay Days.

Fall 2020: Brittany Willingham (a RISE student from Fayetteville State University), Bresaja Brooks, Dale Rise, Ethan Schroeder, Chloe Smith, and Lindsay Days.

Spring 2021: Ethan Schroeder, James Garcia, Chloe Smith, and Lindsay Days.

Summer 2021:  Novia Mann (Thomas Nelson Community College), Brittney Anderson (The University of the Virgin Islands), and Janae Bruce (The University of the Virgin Islands).

Fall 2021: Ethan Schroeder, Taryn Amos, Alexis Fletcher, Chloe Smith, and Lindsay Days.

Spring 2022: Ethan Schroeder, Chloe Smith, Novia Mann, and Lindsay Days.

Undergraduate students’ awards while at ODU

11/13/19-11/16/19: Ms. Chloe Smith was awarded a Student Travel Award from the American Society for Microbiology to present her research findings at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), Anaheim, California, November 13-16, 2019.  Chloe also won a poster award in cancer biology at ABRCMS.

11/14/18-11/17-18: Ms. Jennifer Mejia was awarded a full travel Award from the American Society for Microbiology to present her research findings at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), Indianapolis, Indiana, November 14-17, 2018.  Jennifer also won one of the two prizes awarded for the best oral presentation at ABRCMS.  This is a first for any ODU undergraduate student attending any of the ABRCMS conferences.

11/14/18-11/17-18: Ms. Halie Maass was awarded funding from ODU Honors College to present her research findings at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), Indianapolis, Indiana, November 14-17, 2018.  Halie also won one of the two prizes awarded for the best oral presentation at ABRCMS. This is a first for any ODU undergraduate student attending any of the ABRCMS conferences.

02/05/18:  Ms. Brianne Nunez was chosen for the Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training (MHIRT) program at Rhodes College during summer 2018.  Students travel abroad during the summer (end of May to early August) to participate in ongoing international biomedical, public health, or anthropological research projects.  Brianne studied in Brazil.

11/02/17-11/04-17: Ms. Brianne Nunez received a full FASEB Mentored Poster/Platform Presenter Award (up to $1,850) to present her research findings at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), Phoenix, Arizona, November 1-4, 2017.  Brianne was also a 2017 summer research student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

11/02/17-11/04-17: Ms. Abbygail Reid, an underrepresented student from the University of Central Florida, who worked in my laboratory during the summer of 2017, recently received a full FASEB Mentored Poster/Platform Presenter Award (up to $1,850) to present her research findings at ABRCMS, Phoenix, Arizona, November 1-4, 2017.

09/27/16: A partial Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) Student Travel Award to Ms. Tiffany Alfred to attend the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, Tampa, Florida, November 9-12, 2016.  I was a mentor for Ms. Tiffany Alfred, an underrepresented undergraduate student at Norfolk State University, who carried summer research in my laboratory in summer 2016.  This was eventually converted to full Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) Student Travel Award.

08/21/16: Ms. Brianne Nunez, Ms. Jaya Chhabra, and Ms. Deondra T. Brown presented posters at the 252^nd ACS National Meeting & Exposition, August 21-25, 2016, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Their conference attendance was paid by our department’s Robert Picone Undergraduate American Chemical Society Conference Travel Award.

12/22/14: An Old Dominion University (ODU) Spring 2014 Undergraduate Research Grant to Ms. Kathy Currie. $1,500.

10/03/14: A partial travel award to Ms. Deisy Esquivel to attend the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, San Antonio, Texas, November 12-15, 2014.  I was a mentor for Ms. Deisy Esquivel, an underrepresented undergraduate student at Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, North Carolina, who carried summer research in my laboratory in summer 2014.

12/13/13: An Old Dominion University (ODU) Spring 2014 Undergraduate Research Grant to Ms. Dominique’ Washington. $1,500.

11/16/13: An award to Ms. Laura Menocal for an outstanding presentation at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, Nashville, Tennessee, November 13-16, 2013.  I was a co-mentor for Ms. Laura Menocal, a former underrepresented undergraduate student at State University of New York, Stony Brook.

10/03/13: A partial travel award to Ms. Tiera Corey to attend the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, Nashville, Tennessee, November 13-16, 2013.  I was a mentor for Ms. Tiera Corey, an underrepresented undergraduate student at The University of Southern Mississippi.

Undergraduate students’ awards under my supervision at USM

12/07/12:  The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Chair’s award to Mr. Stuart E. Ramsdale for the best oral presentation in the capstone course, CHE 496: Undergraduate Research in Chemistry/Biochemistry.

05/11-08/11: American Chemical Society (ACS), ACS Global Research Experiences, Exchanges, and Training (GREET) Pilot Program Winner for 2011. Title: Synthesis, Characterization, and CO₂ Sequestering Studies of Cobalt(III)-Containing Metallomesogens. PI. $9,500.00.  Part of the award allowed Ms. Dorothy Horton to spend eight weeks at The University of York, U.K. in order to carry out research in the laboratory of Professor Duncan Bruce.  Please see Dorothy being trained in this video on analysis of metallomesogens!

06/07-08/07: 2007 Moissan Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Fluorine Chemistry, The American Chemical Society, Division of Fluorine for the synthesis and characterization of novel fluorine-containing trinuclear ruthenium(II)/rhodium(III) complex.  PI. US$3,500.  This award allowed Mr. Mauro Davis to carry out ten weeks of undergraduate research in my laboratory in the summer of 2007.

Former Undergraduate students, Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, U.S.A.

05/04-06/06: Barbara K. Hughes and Shelly Hay.

Former Undergraduate Students, U.W.I., Cave Hill Campus, Barbados (Out of a total of 14)

00-01: Robin-Simone Rocke (U.W.I., St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago), Celina Franklin, Maurice Campbell, and Ezra Maynard.

99-00: Martin Hall and Gabriel Harewood (U.W.I., Mona Campus, Jamaica).

98-99: Ross F.G. Brown (U.W.I., Mona Campus, Jamaica), Maria D. Cozier, Walter Alleyne Jnr. (U.W.I., Mona Campus, Jamaica), and Christopher O. Bovell (University of Bristol, U.K.).

97-98: Alex Waterman (University of Surrey).

95-96: Junior Welch.

94-95: Shawn Phillips (University of Newcastle, U.K.), Leslie Wellington, and Kendi Cumberbatch-King.