Peter Raymond, the Oastler Professor of Biogeochemistry at Yale School of the Environment (YSE), has been appointed co-director of the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture (YCNCC), a university hub for cutting-edge research in natural carbon capture, Michael Crair, Yale’s vice provost for research, announced on Wednesday.
Raymond will succeed inaugural co-director Liza Comita, the Davis-Denkmann Professor of Tropical Forest Ecology at YSE, when her current term ends. He will join inaugural co-director Dave Bercovici, the Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Geophysics in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, in leading the center’s initiatives to advance natural solutions to climate change.
He begins his new role on July 1.
Since its founding in 2021, the center, under the leadership of Comita and Bercovici, has advanced both scientific understanding and practical approaches to carbon sequestration, including storing carbon in forests, enhancing capture in rocks and oceans, and converting CO₂ into useful materials.
“Liza has been instrumental in helping build the YCNCC from scratch and at record pace, and especially instrumental in shaping its mission and impact. It has been a privilege to work alongside her,” said Bercovici. “I look forward to continuing this work with Pete, whose depth of expertise will be a tremendous asset as we advance the center’s goals.”
YCNCC was created through a gift from FedEx to study the fundamental and applied science of natural carbon capture. As part of Yale Planetary Solutions, a university-wide initiative to find novel solutions to environmental problems, YCNCC explores how natural processes can be enhanced to reduce atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gasses while offering meaningful social and ecological co-benefits.
“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to help foster innovative research to inform and advance urgently needed climate solutions,” Comita said. “It has been a privilege to work with Dave and the YCNCC team over the past four years to build up the center, and I look forward to seeing the center grow and evolve with Pete’s leadership as the new co-director.”
Raymond has over 20 years of experience as a researcher at YSE, where he currently serves as senior associate dean of research and director of doctoral studies. His research focuses on how carbon moves through freshwater and coastal ecosystems, exploring greenhouse gas exchanges between inland waters and the atmosphere, the metabolism of aquatic ecosystems, and the effects of storms and droughts on aquatic ecology.
He is the lead principal investigator on a U.S. Department of Energy Earthshot grant on natural climate solutions and leads the inland water component of the Global Methane Budget.
Raymond has also led YSE’s climate initiative and served on numerous university committees, including the Core Facilities Task Force and the University Instrumentation Committee.
“I am very excited to co-direct YCNCC with Dave and facilitate solutions to mitigate climate change,” Raymond said. “Solving today’s climate challenges requires an interdisciplinary and motivated team and I look forward to working with the talented scientists and staff at YCNCC.”
Raymond is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Geophysical Union, a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, a past editor-in-chief of the American Geophysical Union’s journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles, and a past Fulbright Scholar.
In his message to the Yale community, Crair expressed appreciation for Comita’s leadership and welcomed Raymond into his new role.
“Liza and Dave have brought together researchers from Yale and beyond to tackle our most pressing environmental challenges,” Crair wrote. “Liza has stewarded an incredible range of research and investment, and her commitment to YCNCC has laid the foundation for its continued success.
“With his depth of expertise and demonstrated leadership, Pete will be instrumental in progressing YCNCC’s critical work to understand and develop natural carbon sequestration systems,” he added. “He brings extensive experience in fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and research.”
