GLESENER, ROBERT.   Associate Professor of Biology, Emeritus, Brevard College.   B.S., University of Maryland (Zoology); M.S. (Zoology) and Ph.D. (Biological Sciences), University of Michigan.

I first heard of Brevard while an undergraduate at the University of Maryland. Southern Appalachia is salamander heaven and I spent my summers in Western North Carolina trail blazing and collecting specimens for a zoology professor. I was hooked. I gave up my prior interest in medicine and psychology and became an ecologist. Even though my research eventually became more theoretical, to this day I cannot resist turning logs and rocks in Pisgah National Forest. The difference is that today I put back everything I catch.

I came to Brevard directly from graduate school at the University of Michigan.  My research then dealt with (1) the regional stability of locally unstable predator/prey interactions and (2) the evolution and maintenance of sexual reproduction.  During my twenty-six years at Brevard College, I have taught everything from Introductory Biology and Zoology to Ecology and Genetics.  Outside the classroom I founded the Commuter Student Association and BC RECYCLES!  I also maintained small projects monitoring stream water quality and the salamanders of Moore Cove, Pisgah National Forest.

In 1997, I began a long-term study of Brevard's white squirrel population, which includes conducting the annual Fall Squirrel Count.  Although I have since retired, I continue as Director of the White Squirrel Research Institute under the sponsorship of the Heart of Brevard.  Please visit our website at www.whitesquirrelinstitute.com.

My personal interests/hobbies include photography, cooking, movies and anything involving my wife, Jennie, and three children, Traci, Stefani, and Timothy.