SC Connecticut News

Peter Raymond, who has conducted leading research on the chemistry and ecology of inland waters, has been appointed the Oastler Professor of Biogeochemistry at Yale University, effective immediately. Raymond is a faculty member at the Yale School of the Environment (YSE) and holds an appointment with the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Raymond earned his Ph.D. in Marine Science from the College of William and Mary in 1999. Following three years as a postdoctoral scientist at the Marine Biological Lab and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, he joined Yale School of the Environment in 2002 as a tenure-track professor and was promoted to full professor in 2010.

Throughout his career, Raymond has gained international recognition for his contributions to earth, aquatic, and marine sciences. His work has significantly advanced understanding of inland waters' role in global dynamics. His research encompasses greenhouse gas exchanges between inland waters and the atmosphere, terrestrial element transport to coastal waters, aquatic ecosystem metabolism, and the impacts of storms and droughts on aquatic ecology. He also utilizes radiocarbon measurements to study carbon turnover in aquatic ecosystems.

In 2005, Raymond received the Cronin Award from the Estuarine Research Federation for promising early-career estuarine scientists. The following year, he was honored with a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation. In 2016, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and inducted into the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. In 2017, he became a fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Web of Science from 2020 to 2023. His publications have been cited over 29,000 times.

Raymond's community service includes roles ranging from local initiatives to global projects. He served as president of his town’s Land Trust and led studies for Connecticut Academy of Sciences and Engineering on phosphorus measurement methods. He contributed to major reports such as the U.S. National Climate Assessment (2013) and IPCC AR5, edited Global Biogeochemical Cycles (2017-2020), and currently serves on various advisory boards including those for American Journal of Science and Environmental Protection Agency’s Long Island South Study Ocean.

At Yale, Raymond is involved in numerous committees including University Instrumentation Committee and YSE Title IX Committee. He directs the Yale Analytical and Stable Isotope Center while serving as senior associate dean of research at YSE among other leadership roles.

Raymond has advised numerous postdoctoral associates, research master's students, and doctoral students while contributing significantly to YSE's teaching programs. Since joining Yale, he has secured over $10 million as lead PI on grants with additional funding as co-PI or sub-awardee amounting to approximately $7 million. Currently, he leads a U.S. Department of Energy-supported study under DOE’s Energy Earthshot Initiative aimed at developing methods to remove atmospheric carbon dioxide.