Robert Hobbins

Robert Hobbins
Assistant Professor • Clinical Assistant Professor of Management-Sustainability
Managing for Sustainability • Risk Management and Insurance

BUSB 4208

Robert Hobbins is a clinical assistant professor of sustainability at the Business School. As a sustainability scientist, he has conducted research on knowledge innovation and co-production, water resource sustainability and management, urban resilience, anticipatory governance, and sustainability education. His current research interests focus on knowledge and business innovation to advance sustainability transformations, and the redesign of university training programs to better prepare students to solve today’s complex urban sustainability and business challenges. He is co-PI and co-founder of the NSF GERMINATION Center for Urban Transformations at Georgia State University where he served as a postdoctoral researcher prior to joining CU Denver. At the Business School, he teaches courses on sustainability leadership, climate change and resilience, and sustainable business practices. Robert also serves on the Board of Directors of Sonoran Schools – a charter management organization operating college prep and STEM-focused public schools in Arizona.

Education

Ph.D. Sustainability, Arizona State University

M.S. Community Resources and Development – Sustainable Communities, Arizona State University

M.Ed. Science Education, The Ohio State University

B.S. Physics and Astronomy, The Ohio State University

Areas of expertise

Sustainability Education

Knowledge System Innovation

Sustainability Transformations

Urban Resilience Governance

Business Sustainability

Select Publications

Westman, L., Patterson, J., Macrorie, R., Orr, C., Ashcraft, C. Castán Broto, V., …, Webb, R. (2022). Compound urban crises. Ambio.

Muñoz-Erickson, T., Meerow, S., Hobbins, R., et al. (2021). Beyond Bouncing Back? Comparing and Contesting Urban Resilience Frames in US and Latin American Contexts. Landscape and Urban Planning. 214.

Hobbins, R., Muñoz-Erickson, T., & Miller, C. (2021). Producing and communicating flood risk: A knowledge system analysis of FEMA flood maps in New York City. In Z. Hamstead, M. Berbés-Blázquez, E. Cook, D. Iwaniec, T. McPhearson, & T. A. Muñoz-Erickson (Eds.), Resilient Urban Futures. Springer International Publishing. 

Muñoz-Erickson, T., Selkirk, K., Hobbins, R., Miller, C., Feagan, M., Iwaniec, D., Miller, T., & Cook, E. (2021). Anticipatory resilience: Bringing back the future into urban planning and knowledge systems. In Z. Hamstead, M. Berbés-Blázquez, E. Cook, D. Iwaniec, T. McPhearson, & T. A. Muñoz-Erickson (Eds.), Resilient Urban Futures. Springer International Publishing. 

Feagan, M., Matsler, M., Meerow, S., Muñoz-Erickson, T., Hobbins, R., Gim, C., Miller, C. (2019). Redesigning knowledge systems for urban resilience. Environmental Science and Policy, 101, 358-363.

Rosenzweig, B., Ruddell, B., McPhillips, L., Hobbins, R., McPhearson, T., Cheng, Z., Chang, H., Kim, Y. (2019). Developing knowledge systems for urban resilience to cloudburst rain events. Environmental Science and Policy, 99, 150-159.

Awards

2021 Science Communication in Practice Award, Ecological Society of America

2020 Outstanding Graduate Student, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University

2018 Knowledge Mobilization Impact Award Finalist, Arizona State University

2013 Distinguished Educator Award, Flinn Foundation

2011 Senior Division Top Teacher Award, Arizona State Science & Engineering Fair

2010 Arizona Teacher of the Year Award, Arizona Technology Council

2010 Teacher of the Year, Sonoran Science Academy - Tucson

2010 Outstanding Teacher Award, Arizona Junior Science and Humanities Symposium

2009 Junior High Division Top Teacher Award, Arizona State Science & Engineering Fair