Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences

Email: grobins@cnsunix.albany.edu
Phone: (518) 442-4302
Office: Biology, Room 253B

Curriculum Vitae | Publications | Grant Activity | Personal Website

Recent Scientific Accomplishments

Dr. Robinson, a biologist, has co-authored recent papers on a range of ecological topics, with emphasis on biological conservation. His work contributes to a firmer theoretical basis for ecological restoration. One paper engages experimental studies of the potential for natural ecological processes to contribute during recovery of degraded lands and waters (in Ecological Restoration). A second is concerned with understanding and predicting species interactions in human-dominated landscapes, including seed predation in forest fragments (submitted to Journal of Mammology) and the ecological background of the spread of Lyme-disease agents (submitted to Ecological Applications). Other papers are on the ecosystem context for biodiversity conservation, including biodiversity assessments in the context of acid deposition (J. No. Amer. Benthological Society), and indicators of water quality in rural and urban watersheds (Northeastern Naturalist).

Funded Research

Support for these research activities included grants from (a) US EPA EMPACT (collaborative, $400,000), a joint effort with local government and community organizations to assess the ecological status of an urban watershed for the purpose of restoration planning; (b) a NYS BR grant ($36,000l) to study food-web dynamics and Lyme-disease agents in forest fragments; (c) and grants from the USGS ($22,000) and NYS DEC ($55,000) for ecological studies of a local urban and rural watersheds.

Future Plans

While the EPA project has concluded, other studies listed will continue. The studies on ecology of Lyme disease and previous work on the ecological consequences of tree disease have led Robinson to join in a new university initiative in the Ecology of Infectious Disease (EID). Parties to this initiative are faculty in Biological Sciences, members of CSDA from other departments, and colleagues from the NYS Dept. of Health. Biological Sciences is currently recruiting new faculty in the field of EID.