Peter was a Research Associate at University of Montana from September 1970 through August 2020 working in applied environmental science and ecology. His scientific specialties are in applied plant ecology with an emphasis on weed management methods and the response of the entire plant community to pursuit of the management goal(s). He has a broad range of experience with particular emphasis on the ecosystems of the Northern Rockies and Great Plains. His background in native plant botany is the basis for many terrestrial and aquatic vegetation surveys. As an avid fly fisherman at an early age, he subsequently developed a professional interest in the relationship between the canopy structure of aquatic macrophytes and the niches they form for different groups of macroinvertebrates.