Robert is a Senior Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Resource Recovery and Recycling and is an expert on the topics of household hazardous waste (including used oil), waste tires, extended producer responsibility, and lifecycle-driven policy-making. Robert has professional experience as a wildlife biologist, specializing in migratory songbirds of the Sierra Nevada foothills, as well as California water rights issues.

Robert was previously a professional chef and ran a successful business teaching people how to brew their own beer and make their own cheese at home.