C. Richard Robins

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Charles Richard Robins (November 25, 1928 – November 12, 2020) was an American

ichthyologist
.

Early life and university

Robins was born on November 25, 1928, in

C. carolinae.[3] However, he remained interested in birds for the rest of his life.[1]

Career

After attaining his PhD, Robins joined the U.S.

Army Chemical Corps at their biological warfare facility at Fort Detrick, Maryland, serving for 2 years. In the Army he forged many important professional relationships, and as he stated, “received a lot of shots.”[3] While serving, mainly as a translator, he contracted a mysterious eye infection which meant that he had to wear sunglasses, gave him a blood profile that doctors could not explain and he was told that he could no longer be a blood donor.[1]

After serving in the Army, Robins started work at the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and for six years he was a member of its advisory board.[3][1]

In the 1960s, Robins was committee chair for the PhD of

Synaphobranchidae, a family of deep-sea eels. He had to excuse himself from serving on the committee as he and Catherine had begun a relationship and, in 1965, had married. Catherine continued to work in ichthyology for 20 more years. She is a talented artist, illustrating her own papers as well as those of others, she eventually became a multi prize-winning sculptor.[3]

As well as his published research, Robins was recognized as Teacher of the Year in 1966 by the Marine Science Graduate Student Organization and in 1967 received the University of Miami's Outstanding Teacher Award. In 1990 he was awarded the University of Miami's

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in 1960.[1]

The couple retired in 1994,

Professor Emeritus in ichthyology at the University of Kansas.[3]

Legacy

10 species of fishes are named in honor of Robins, including a

false morays, the only species, R. catherineae, was named for Catherine.[3]

Following Robins retirement from the University of Miami Marine Laboratory, the support of the collection of 33,000 fish

specimens he created ceased. The Florida Museum of Natural History realised the importance of this collection and consented to take over its upkeep. Dick Robins's son, Rob, also an ichthyologist, curates the collection at the museum.[3]

Family

Robins and Catherine had been married for 55 years. They had three children: Catherine Elaine, an author of fantasy and science fiction under the pen name Elaine Lane; Robert Hale; and Colin Richard, who is a professor of soil science at Claremont McKenna College in California.[3][1] Robins died of natural causes on November 12, 2020.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Walter R. Courtenay, Jr. & Catherine H. Robins (1997). "C. Richard Robins: Yesterday and Today". Bulletin of Marine Science. 60 (3): 629–642.
  2. ^ a b "C. Richard Robins 1928 - 2020". legacy.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara (April 7, 2021). "Name of the Week Richard (Dick) Robins (1928-2020)". ETYFish.org. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  4. ^ "Dr. C. Richard Robins". Gulfbase. Retrieved April 8, 2021.

Further reading

  • Smith, David G. (2016). "C. Richard Robins and the Miami School of Ichthyology".
    S2CID 87414186
    .
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