Dr. Robin M. Verble, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
Director, Environmental Science Program
Missouri University of Science & Technology verbler@mst.edu

2012. Ph.D., Applied Bioscience. University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.

Dissertation: Fire Ecology of Ozark Ant Communities.

Research Advisor: S.P. Yanoviak.

2008. M.S., Entomology. Cum laude. University of Arkansas. Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA.

Thesis: Effects of fire on occurrence of black carpenter ants in Ozark forests.

Research Advisor: F.M. Stephen.

2006. B.S., Biophysics. Magna cum laude. University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, Indiana, USA.

Undergraduate research: Pectoral fin development in Polyodon spathula.

Academic Advisor: J. Barnett. Research Advisor: B.D. Metscher.

Recent Publications

Wildland Firefighters

DeBusschere G, Byrne H, Augustino V, Granberg R, Pearson S & Verble R. Consequences of facilities, vehicle and equipment failures for United State federal wildland firefighter retention and morale. 2025. Journal of Safety and Sustainability [in press]

Mental health and traumatic occupational exposure in wildland fire dispatchers.

Wildland firefighter environmental health: a scoping review.

Self-reported environmental health of wildland firefighters. International Journal of Wildland Fire.

Gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and status influence how respondents communicate their experiences in surveys of wildland firefighters.

Ethical Considerations in Science

Entomologists require ethical guidance for compassionate management of delusional parasitosis cases.

Beyond a vision for the future: tangible steps to engage diverse participants in inclusive field experiences.

Best practices to prevent and respond to sexual harassment in field science.

Community and Fire Ecology

Steese K^, Shepard D, Albritton MN*, Heinz DA*, Germeroth L*, Hinson J*, Allen J^ & Verble R. 2025. Checklist of the moths of Fort Leonard Wood. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. [in press]

Distance from nest and climate explain geographical trends of harvester ant’s food resource use: a multi-species approach.

No field evidence of grass fuel structure effects on post-fire tree mortality in Juniperus virginiana.

High severity wildfires alter ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) foraging assemblage structure in octane coniferous forests and grasslands in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico, USA

Scale-dependent spatial ecology of Paleotropical leaf litter ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

Tradeoffs in longleaf pine conservation: Prescribed fire management increases exotic ambrosia beetle abundance.

Occurrence of Carpenter Ants in Ozark Forests in Relation to Prescribed Fire and Stand Variables.

Occurrence of Camponotus pennsylvanicus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in trees previously infested with Enaphalodes rufulus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas.

Seed removal collapse by the invasive Argentine ant species in a High Nature Value farmland.

Ant functional structure and diversity changes along a post-grazing succession in Mediterranean oak woodlands.

Local environmental variables are key drivers of ant taxonomic and functional beta-diversity in a Mediterranean dryland.

Using a space-for-time approach to select the best ant biodiversity-based indicators to track changes in aridity in Mediterranean drylands.

Guadalupe Bass flow- ecology relationships; with emphasis on the impact of flow on recruitment.