Peter Isles is a PhD student with VT EPSCoR’s RACC Project. Peter’s studies focus on the intersection of biogeochemical and biological processes. His research in the RACC project will focus on how the development of reducing conditions in lake sediments promotes the release of phosphorus and nitrogen into the water column, how this process contributes to bottom-up controls of phytoplankton dynamics, and how sediment redox conditions are mediated by biological activities such as sediment reworking by infaunal invertebrates and rhizospheric oxidation and root respiration by aquatic plants. Before beginning his studies at UVM, Peter received an MA in conservation biology from Columbia University in 2011. His thesis research was conducted at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, where he studied the impacts of methane recycling on the carbon isotopic signatures of peat cores from different habitats. Peter received his BA from the University of Chicago.