Rate My Professor Dale Roberts

Professor Dale Roberts is an Emeritus Professor and Senior Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Western Australia. He obtained his BSc Honours and PhD in Zoology from the University of Adelaide. Prior to joining UWA in 1978 as a Senior Tutor, he was employed at Murray Park CAE from 1976 to 1977. At UWA, his career progressed through positions including Lecturer in 1987, Senior Lecturer in 1993, Associate Professor in 2000, and Winthrop Professor in 2006. He served as the Inaugural Head of the School of Animal Biology from 2001 to 2006. Throughout his tenure, Roberts has contributed significantly to teaching and supervision, overseeing 32 PhD completions.

Roberts specializes in frog biology, with research encompassing speciation, conservation biology, biogeography particularly in south-western Australia, anuran biology, sexual selection and sperm competition in polyandrous mating systems, animal acoustics, behavioural ecology, evolutionary biology, and restoration biology. Notable publications include 'Sperm competition selects for increased testes mass in Australian frogs' (Byrne, Roberts & Simmons, 2002), 'Sperm competition and the evolution of gamete morphology in frogs' (Byrne, Simmons & Roberts, 2003), 'Biogeography and speciation of terrestrial fauna in the south-western Australian biodiversity hotspot' (Rix et al., 2015), 'Commercial honey bees (Apis mellifera) reduce the fecundity of an Australian native bee (Hylaeus alcyoneus)' (Paini & Roberts, 2005), and 'Intrasexual selection and group spawning in quacking frogs (Crinia georgiana)' (Byrne & Roberts, 2004). Recent contributions feature 'Red hot frogs: Identifying the Australian frogs most at risk of extinction' (Geyle et al., 2022) and 'A national-scale dataset for threats impacting Australia’s imperiled flora and fauna' (Ward et al., 2021). He served on the Editorial Board of Animal Behaviour from 2004 to 2006. Now retired, he remains involved in the FrogID citizen science program with the Australian Museum Sydney.