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Robert J. Robbins is a biologist, an educator, a science administrator, a publisher, an information technologist, and an IT leader and manager who specializes in advancing biomedical knowledge and supporting education through the application of information technology. More About: RJR | OUR TEAM | OUR SERVICES | THIS WEBSITE
Lectures on squid-vibrio symbiosis
I. Living together: The symbiosis of host-microbial interactions
iBioSeminars — Microbiology
Advances in rRNA sequencing and other techniques have allowed scientists to characterize novel symbiotic partnerships. In her first lecture, Dr. Margaret McFall-Ngai provides an overview of the three main types of symbiosis: mutualism (both partners benefit), commensalism (only one partner benefit), and parasitism (one partner benefits, but the other partner is harmed). McFall-Ngai’s research is currently focused on understanding the establishment and maintenance of symbiotic relationships, and the molecular effects that these relationships have on development, health, and disease.
McFall-Ngai, M 2016. I. Living together: The symbiosis of host-microbial interactions. iBioSeminar Available: https://www.ibiology.org/ibioseminars/living-together-symbiosis-host-microbial-interactions.html © 2016 - 2006 iBiology · All content under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license
II. The Hawaiian bobtail squid - Vibrio fischeri association
iBioSeminars — Microbiology
In her second talk, McFall-Ngai tells the story of a symbiosis between the Hawaiian bobtail squid and Vibrio fischeri (V. fischeri), a type of luminescent bacteria that enables the squid to hunt at night. McFall-Ngai and collaborators have identified the molecular mechanism by which nascent Hawaiian bobtail squid select V. fischeri from the thousands of other bacteria in their habitat. V. fischeri induces developmental changes in the squid that drive daily rhythms of gene expression, which are necessary to control bacterial growth, a crucial cycle in this symbiotic partnership.
McFall-Ngai, M 2016. II. The Hawaiian bobtail squid - Vibrio fischeri association iBioSeminar Available: https://www.ibiology.org/ibioseminars/hawaiian-bobtail-squid-vibrio-fischeri-association.html © 2016 - 2006 iBiology · All content under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license
RJR Experience and Expertise
Researcher
Robbins holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in the life sciences. He served as a tenured faculty member in the Zoology and Biological Science departments at Michigan State University. He is currently exploring the intersection between genomics, microbial ecology, and biodiversity — an area that promises to transform our understanding of the biosphere.
Educator
Robbins has extensive experience in college-level education: At MSU he taught introductory biology, genetics, and population genetics. At JHU, he was an instructor for a special course on biological database design. At FHCRC, he team-taught a graduate-level course on the history of genetics. At Bellevue College he taught medical informatics.
Administrator
Robbins has been involved in science administration at both the federal and the institutional levels. At NSF he was a program officer for database activities in the life sciences, at DOE he was a program officer for information infrastructure in the human genome project. At the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, he served as a vice president for fifteen years.
Technologist
Robbins has been involved with information technology since writing his first Fortran program as a college student. At NSF he was the first program officer for database activities in the life sciences. At JHU he held an appointment in the CS department and served as director of the informatics core for the Genome Data Base. At the FHCRC he was VP for Information Technology.
Publisher
While still at Michigan State, Robbins started his first publishing venture, founding a small company that addressed the short-run publishing needs of instructors in very large undergraduate classes. For more than 20 years, Robbins has been operating The Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project, a web site dedicated to the digital publishing of critical works in science, especially classical genetics.
Speaker
Robbins is well-known for his speaking abilities and is often called upon to provide keynote or plenary addresses at international meetings. For example, in July, 2012, he gave a well-received keynote address at the Global Biodiversity Informatics Congress, sponsored by GBIF and held in Copenhagen. The slides from that talk can be seen HERE.
Facilitator
Robbins is a skilled meeting facilitator. He prefers a participatory approach, with part of the meeting involving dynamic breakout groups, created by the participants in real time: (1) individuals propose breakout groups; (2) everyone signs up for one (or more) groups; (3) the groups with the most interested parties then meet, with reports from each group presented and discussed in a subsequent plenary session.
Designer
Robbins has been engaged with photography and design since the 1960s, when he worked for a professional photography laboratory. He now prefers digital photography and tools for their precision and reproducibility. He designed his first web site more than 20 years ago and he personally designed and implemented this web site. He engages in graphic design as a hobby.
RJR Picks from Around the Web (updated 11 MAY 2018 )
Old Science
Weird Science
Treating Disease with Fecal Transplantation
Fossils of miniature humans (hobbits) discovered in Indonesia
Paleontology
Dinosaur tail, complete with feathers, found preserved in amber.
Astronomy
Mysterious fast radio burst (FRB) detected in the distant universe.
Big Data & Informatics
Big Data: Buzzword or Big Deal?
Hacking the genome: Identifying anonymized human subjects using publicly available data.