About me

I am a freshwater ecologist with broad interests in the ecology of freshwater plants and animals at both population and community scales and in both rivers and lakes. I have long-standing research themes focused on climate change adaptation for freshwater ecosystems and the ecology of intermittent rivers and wetlands. I have focused on the impacts of drying and warming climates on species, communities and ecosystem function. My work has identified the importance of drought refuges and discovered several new types of drought refuge and previously undocumented responses to drying by invertebrates.


I engage in research funded by competitive grant schemes and funded directly by industry. I also supervise PhD and Honours students and teach at the Masters and Undergraduate levels.


I am the Editor in Chief of the most highly ranked freshwater ecology journal globally, Freshwater Biology (Wiley).

Links

Belinda Robson Research Gate profile
Wiley Freshwater Biology Editor in Chief

Awards

Hilary Jolly Medal
Australian Freshwater Sciences Society (AFSS), 2021
Australian Society for Limnology Early Career Excellence Award
Australian Freshwater Sciences Society (AFSS), 2005
Vice-Chancellors Award for Excellent Contributions to Research (Early career researcher)
Deakin University, 2005
Deakin University Award for Teaching Excellence
Deakin University, 2004
The Apple Prize - awarded by research students at the annual AFFS conference for the most inspiring non-student talk
Australian Society for Freshwater Sciences, 2022

Organisational Affiliations

Associate Professor, School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences, Murdoch University

Associate Professor, Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems, Murdoch University

Editor in Chief, Freshwater Biology, John Wiley & Sons (United Kingdom, Chichester)

Member, Australian Society for Freshwater Sciences

Education

Zoology
07/10/199107/04/1995, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Tasmania (Australia, Hobart) - UTAS

Thesis title: ‘Habitat complexity, spatial scale and grazing interactions in a temperate river” Supervisor: Leon Barmuta

Biology
03/07/198925/05/1990, Honours, Murdoch University (Australia, Perth)

1st class Honours Thesis title: "The effect of salinisation on the structure and function of the macroinvertebrate communities of streams in the wandoo forest, Western Australia” Supervisor: Jenny Davis

Biology
03/03/198625/11/1988, Bachelor of Science , Murdoch University (Australia, Perth)

BSc in Biological Sciences