He is lead author of a paper published in the journal Science—one of most prestigious and influential scientific research journals— and has received significant media attention, two achievements that even some of the most experienced researchers have yet to accomplish.
Peter worked with his supervisor Professor Jeremy Kerr at the University of Ottawa, as well as with Tim Newbold, Research Fellow at the University College London, where he spent four months as a Mitacs research fellow. His research focused on the impacts of climate change on bumblebees. He used a dataset of North American and European sightings to study the extinction trends of 66 species of bumblebees. Through this work, Peter found that there was a strong link between these declines and climate chaos—the increasingly frequent and extreme weather events caused by climate change. As a result, his research received the attention of more than 175 international news and media outlets including National Geographic, The New York Times, Radio Canada and China Global Television, who interviewed Peter. The research paper was even featured in People Magazine and mentioned on social media by celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Margaret Atwood.
Peter is thankful for his supervisor Prof. Jeremy Kerr and his “adopted supervisor” Prof. Tim Newbold, both of whom guided him with the utmost patience throughout his research. He shares the following advice with other graduate students, “Don’t be afraid to put in the work and try out a risky experiment, submitting your paper to a high impact journal, or reaching out to a really cool professor about a collaboration.” Peter adds, “Rejection and being wrong are a huge part of science, but if you take the time to hone your fundamental skills and build a solid foundation, then reaching for the stars becomes more and more possible.”
When not conducting research, Peter keeps busy by participating in intramural sports, volunteering for Let’s Talk Science Ottawa, where he has won several Volunteer of the Month awards, and organizing science-related events such as “science slams” -- a combination of TED talks and slam poetry-- in the Ottawa area.
