Gartner, F. Robert

Gartner earned a B.S. in Range Science from the University of Wyoming, Laramie, in 1950, an M.S. in Range Science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1956, and a Ph.D. in Range Science from the University of Wyoming, Laramie, in 1967. He began his career as a Veterans Instructor in Agriculture in Newcastle, Wyoming, from 1950 to 1952. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1954, he worked as a Junior Specialist in research at the Experiment Station, School of Forestry, University of California, Berkeley, from 1954 to 1955. From 1956 to 1964 he was an Assistant Professor of Range Management at South Dakota State University in Brookings. In 1967 he served as a Research Assistant in the Plant Science Division at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, and later that year joined Colorado State University, Fort Collins, as an Associate Professor of Range Science for the 1967–1968 academic year. In 1968 he moved to the National College of Business in Rapid City, South Dakota, where he was Chairman of the Division of General Education until 1969. He then joined the Department of Animal Science at South Dakota State University’s Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Rapid City as an Associate Professor of Range Science, a position he held from 1969 to 1975. Since 1975 he has served as Regional Coordinator for the Society for Range Management and the Old West Regional Commission range resource program.

He has been a life member of the Society for Range Management and served as its Director from 1972 to 1975. He was Vice President of the South Dakota Section of the Society in 1962 and President in 1963. Since 1970 he has been Newsletter Editor for the South Dakota Section of the Society for Range Management. He is also a member of Alpha Zeta (since 1949), Chi Gamma Iota (since 1966), Gamma Sigma Delta (since 1965), and Sigma Xi (since 1965). His research expertise includes plant ecology, fire ecology, range plant physiology, range soils, and range improvement and management.

Field of Activity: Range management, Soil ecology, Fire ecology, Plant ecology
Occupation: Ecologists, College teachers