Joan Robb
{{short description|New Zealand zoologist, professor and curator}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Joan Robb
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| birth_date = 1921
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| death_date = 19 October 2017, age 95
| death_place = Auckland
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| fields = herpetology
| workplaces = Auckland University
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| alma_mater = Massey Agricultural College
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| author_abbrev_zoo = Robb
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Joan Robb ({{circa|1921}} – 19 October 2017) was a New Zealand herpetologist working in the Zoology Department at the University of Auckland as an associate professor. After retirement, she was a wildlife tour guide in New Zealand and the Indian subcontinent, Africa and Australia.
Academic career
Robb grew up in Gisborne, and was educated at home through the Correspondence School.{{Cite web|title=Joan Robb|url=https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/150th-anniversary/150-women-in-150-words/1968-2017/joan-robb/|access-date=2020-12-27|website=Royal Society Te Apārangi|archive-date=24 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124225726/https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/150th-anniversary/150-women-in-150-words/1968-2017/joan-robb/|url-status=live}} After a Diploma in Agriculture from Massey Agricultural College, she studied at the University of Auckland, graduating with an MSc in zoology in 1956.{{Cite web|title=ATL: Unpublished Collections|url=https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ethesaurus.206794|access-date=2020-12-27|website=tiaki.natlib.govt.nz|archive-date=8 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508030508/https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ethesaurus.206794|url-status=live}} Robb then worked in the Department of Zoology at the University of Auckland, becoming an associate professor in 1967. She taught vertebrate form and function. She retired in 1978, after which she became a tour guide for wildlife tours to Malaysia, Nepal, China, Australia, and Africa.
Robb held positions on the Fauna Protection Advisory Council (an advisory group to the Department of Internal Affairs, who were then responsible for conservation{{Cite web|last=McLintock|first=Alexander Hare|last2=Percy Hylton Craig Lucas|first2=Administrative Officer|last3=Taonga|first3=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu|title=Modern Methods of Conservation|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/nature-conservation/page-5|access-date=2020-12-27|website=An encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, 1966.|language=en|archive-date=7 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170507200756/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/nature-conservation/page-5|url-status=live}}) and the Council of the Auckland Museum.
Robb's research focused on herpetology, particularly New Zealand lizards, and she named five new taxa of skink and gecko. Her 1980 book describing New Zealand amphibians and reptiles was considered to be "academic in quality, but popular in tone".
In 2017, Robb was named as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's 150 women in 150 words.
Taxa named by Robb
Selected works
- {{CiteQ|Q99849286}}
- {{CiteQ|Q99975772}}
- {{CiteQ|Q58676901}}
- {{CiteQ|Q104525474}}
- {{CiteQ|Q104525455}}
- {{CiteQ|Q104524916}}
- {{CiteQ|Q104525406}}
References
{{reflist}}
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Category:Academic staff of the University of Auckland
Category:New Zealand women academics
Category:New Zealand academics