About

Within the School of Human Science, I teach on the Forensic Science programmes at both undergraduate and masters level. My key teaching area is Molecular Biology with a specialism in Wildlife Crime & Wildlife Forensics. I gained Senior Fellowship in 2018, being an advocate of game-based education within universities. My forensic research interests lie within the areas of species identification and the factors affecting the pupation times of wandering larvae. My pedagogic research interests and within the areas of gamification and more recently, looking at the barriers to D/deaf students entering HE and STEM-related courses.  I gained my undergraduate degree in Forensic Biology from the University of Liverpool and I received a PhD from the University of Chester in the field of Molecular Biology, looking at genetic identification of a critically endangered species.

Teaching responsibilities

My teaching focuses on Molecular Biology content within core Genetics modules as well as Forensic Science applications, especially within the field of Wildlife Forensics. I coordinate the dissertation projects of our undergraduate students and supervise projects in a wide range of subjects at both undergraduate and masters level.

Professional interests

After joining the University of Derby in 2012, I became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2013 and a Senior Fellow in 2018.  Throughout my time at Derby, I have been eager to identify alternate methods of delivery in both lecture theatres and laboratories, which has seen the use of interactive software, real world learning experiences and gamification.

Research interests

I am eager to collaborate with local authorities and national agencies in order to identify key issues faced by Rural and Wildlife Crime Officers and how they may be overcome. I also have an interest in Forensic Entomology, specifically factors which affect entomological (maggot) growth within an indoor environment and how this may affect estimations of time since death.

My pedagogic interests fall within the area of gamification and how games can be implemented within a teaching environment to improve engagement and retention of material. I have developed a number of in-class exercises and a table top game which are currently used within my teaching.

More recently I have begun exploring the barriers which may prevent D/deaf students from entering university or undertaking certain subjects, such as those which are STEM-focused.

Membership of professional bodies

• Senior Fellow of AdvanceHE (Higher Education Academy)

Qualifications

Undergraduate qualification

• BSc (Hons) Forensic Biology, University of Liverpool (awarded 2006)

Research qualification

• PhD in Molecular Biology, University of Chester (awarded 2012)

Recent conferences

Pedagogic events

• Game Based Learning - Playfulness in HE: Dry Labs Real Science Webinar (June 2020)
• Level 47 Half Academic Researcher: Playful Learning Conference (July 2019)
• Heads of University Bioscience event at York University (July 2017) Keynote talk: The Convergent Evolution of Games & Education & Workshop: Park Life: A conservation game for HE
• Oxford Brookes University (July 2017) Workshop: Gamification in HE
• The Physiology Society (May 2017) Presentation: Gamification in HE teaching
• Oxford Brookes University (February 2017) Workshop: Gamification in HE
• University of East Anglia (November 2016) Workshop: Gamification in HE
• Annual National Teaching Fellow Symposium (March 2016) Workshop: Park Life
• HEA STEM (January 2016) Workshop: Making Learning Fun, not making Fun of Learning
  
• Heads of University Biosciences (Spring 2014) Poster: Tri-Hard Pipetting

Wildlife Crime events

• Enforcers Conference (November 2016) Workshop: Wildlife Crime Recording
• British Veterinary Forensic and Law Association (June 2016) Presentation: Wildlife DNA Analysis: Potential Veterinary Applications
• Birders Against Wildlife Crime (March 2016) Presentation: Wildlife Crime Scenes and their potential evidence
• The 2nd Chester Conference on Forensics: Aspects of Wildlife Crime & Conservation (June 2012) Workshop: Applications of DNA Techniques - Species Identification
• World Pheasant Association AGM (2010) Presentation: Trinidad Piping guan: Using Genetics for Conservation

In the media

I was involved in the Wildlife and Countryside Link report on the recording of Wildlife Crime, you can find the report at https://www.wcl.org.uk/wildlife.asp 

Recent publications

Turner, I.J. & Robinson, L.A. Game Theory. Laboratory News. (rolling column since 2019) 

Robinson, L.A. (2019). Gamification. In: A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. 5th Edition. Routledge. 

Robinson, L.A. & Turner, I.J. (2019). Table Top Gaming in Wildlife Conservation: Park Life. The Power of Play in Higher Education: Creativity in Tertiary Learning. Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-95780-7 

Robinson, L.A., Turner, I. J., & Sweet, M. J. (2018). The use of gamification in the teaching of disease epidemics and pandemics. Microbiology Letters, 365, (11), https://doi.org/10.1093/femsle/fny111

Robinson, L. A., Bryson, D., Bulling, M. T., Sparks, N., Wellard, K. S. (2018). Post feeding activity of Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae) on common domestic indoor surfaces and its effect on development. Forensic Science International, 286, 177-184. DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.03.010

Robinson, L. A. (2018). Tri-Hard Pipetting: Demonstrating pipetting accuracy using Die Hard with a Vengeance. Journal of Academic Development and Education, 9, 25-32 https://jadekeele.wordpress.com/current-issue/

Robinson, L. (2016). The Application of Games in Higher Education. Journal of Academic Development and Education, 6, 5-8. https://jadekeele.wordpress.com/current-issue/

Robinson, L. A. Genetic Methodologies in Wildlife Investigations (2013) In J. E. Cooper & M. E. Cooper (Eds.), Wildlife Forensic Investigation – Principles and Practice. London, CRC Press.