Joan Robb ( – 19 October 2017) was a New Zealand herpetologist and wildlife tour guide.

Academic career

Robb grew up in Gisborne, and was educated at home through the

Correspondence School Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

. After a Diploma in Agriculture from

Massey Agricultural College Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

, she studied at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, graduating with an MSc in zoology in 1956. 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 The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), or in te reo Māori, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with issuing passports; administering applications for citizenship and lottery grants; enforcing censorship and gambling law ...

, who were then responsible for conservation) and the Council of the

Auckland Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira (or simply the Auckland Museum) is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its collections concentrate on New Zealand history (and especially the history of the Auckla ...

. 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 Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

. Robb died in Auckland on 19 October 2017.

Taxa named by Robb

* Gold-striped gecko * Macgregor's skink * Oligosoma pachysomaticum *

Robust skink The robust skink (''Oligosoma alani'', formerly ''Cyclodina alani'') is a large, rare species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to New Zealand. Geographic range ''O. alani'' was once widespread throughout the North Isl ...

Stephen's Island gecko The Stephen's Island gecko (''Toropuku stephensi''), also known commonly as the Cook Strait striped gecko, Stephen's sticky-toed gecko, and the striped gecko, is a species of gecko in the genus ''Toropuku'' in the family Diplodactylidae. The sp ...

Selected works

* * * * * * *

References

University of Auckland faculty New Zealand women academics New Zealand herpetologists 2017 deaths {{NewZealand-academic-bio-stub