Rate My Professor Robert Verb

Robert Verb serves as Professor of Biological Sciences and Director of the Nature Center Areas at Ohio Northern University. He earned a B.S. from The University of Findlay and a Ph.D. from Ohio University. In the Department of Environmental and Field Biology, Verb teaches courses in botany, freshwater ecology, wetland ecology, and field biology. His research centers on algal ecology, periphyton assemblages, and bioindicators of environmental stress, including mine drainage impacts and responses to hydrological disturbances. As curator of the Ohio Northern University Natural History Museum herbarium, he supports taxonomic studies and regional biodiversity assessments.

Verb's scholarly contributions include key publications such as 'Periphyton Assemblages as Bioindicators of Mine-Drainage in Western Pennsylvania' (2005, Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, with M.L. Vis), which evaluates algal communities as pollution indicators; 'Effects of small-scale environmental variation on periphyton biomass accumulation rates' (2012, Freshwater Biology, with L.L. Saunders), investigating physical factors affecting algal growth; and co-authorship of the 'Checklist of Algal Taxa from Ohio's Unglaciated Western Allegheny Plateau' (Ohio Biological Survey, with R. Bixby and D. Casamatta). His research has garnered over 400 citations. At ONU since approximately 2001, initially as Assistant Professor, he advanced to full professor and received 15-year service recognition in 2022. Verb leads student research on herpetofauna surveys, restored wetland biodiversity, benthic macroinvertebrates, and woody species inventories at university preserves. He collaborates on the Science Alliance project monitoring aquatic biota and wetlands restoration at Blue Heron Reserve. Additionally, Verb serves on the board of the Ohio Wetlands Association.