Rate My Professor Robert Verb

Robert Verb is a Professor of Biological Sciences and Director of the Nature Center Areas in the Department of Biological Sciences at Ohio Northern University. He holds a B.S. from The University of Findlay and a Ph.D. from Ohio University. His academic career at ONU includes recognition for 15 years of service in the Environmental and Field Biology area in 2022. Verb serves on faculty search committees for biology positions and contributes to interdisciplinary projects such as the Science Alliance, involving sampling of fish, invertebrates, and algae. He directs student research in areas like herpetological surveys at ONU natural areas, biodiversity in restored wetlands, habitat and soil types for long-term monitoring, and woody species surveys in university woodlots. As a board member of the Ohio Wetlands Association, he supports wetland conservation efforts, including collaborations with local park districts on restoration projects at sites like Blue Heron Reserve.

Verb's research specializes in aquatic ecology, focusing on algal communities, periphyton assemblages, diatom distributions, metaphyton mats, and the effects of environmental stressors such as acid mine drainage, agriculture, and riparian habitats on lotic and wetland systems. He has published 23 works, accumulating 436 citations, including 'Influences of a Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carriere (Eastern Hemlock) Riparian Habitat on a Lotic Benthic Community' (2016), 'Diatom responses to microenvironment structure within metaphyton mats' (2016), 'Effects of small-scale environmental variation on metaphyton condition and community composition' (2012), 'An unusual occurrence of Thorea hispida (Thore) Desvaux chantransia on rusty crayfish in West Central Ohio' (2012), 'A Two-year Survey of the Algal Community in a Woodland Stream from Southeastern Ohio' (2006), 'Baseline analysis of periphyton community structure in agriculturally impacted lotic systems in West-Central Ohio' (2006), 'Periphyton Assemblages as Bioindicators of Mine-Drainage in Unglaciated Western Allegheny Plateau Lotic Systems' (2005), and 'Taxonomic characterization of the planktonic and metaphytic algal communities in a newly rehabilitated Ohio Wetland' (2001). His contributions include developing algal indices for stream biomonitoring, analyzing diatom communities in impacted subwatersheds, investigating cryptobiotic communities on sandstone cliffs, and documenting new algal records and colonization patterns. Verb teaches courses in botany, freshwater ecology, wetland ecology, and restoration ecology, fostering hands-on field biology experiences.