Donald Robertson

I did my undergraduate honours degree in Physiology at the University of Western Australia (Perth) under the supervision of one of the great names in modern auditory physiology, Brian Johnstone.

I left Perth after honours and did a short stint of research on the efferent control system in hearing with John Desmedt at The Brain Research Institute of The University of Brussels (Universite Libre de Bruxelles). I then moved on to Canada and did my PhD on the mechanisms of sharp tuning in the cochlea under the supervision of Geoffrey Manley at McGill University in Montreal. After that I did a 2 year stint as a postdoc working with John Desmedt in Brussels, this time on cognitive components of evoked cerebral potentials, before returning to Western Australia as a Queen Elizabeth II Fellow. I subsequently took a lecturing position in physiology and have been here ever since, interrupted by immensely enjoyable and useful study leave sojourns in Melbourne (with Dexter Irvine), Madison, Wisconsin (with Donata Oertel), and Auckland with (Gary Housley).

I consider myself very lucky to be have been able to continue to work and teach in The Auditory Laboratory founded by my old mentor and to have daily contact with the other members of the lab who carry on the work started so many years ago.

In 2012 I retired as a teaching/research academic and was appointed a Senior Honorary Research Fellow. Since 2019 I am no longer actively enaged in research, but I continue to make myself available to assist other lab members with the design and conduct of their experiments, to mark honours and PhD theses and to attend local scientific meetings. I also review grant applications and manuscripts for scientific journals.

fomer recipient of grants from NHMRC, ARC, Neurotrauma Research Program, Action on Hearing Loss, Medical Health and Infrastructure Fund, Ramaciotti Foundation.