Robert specialises in environmental consulting with emphasis on interpretation of soil science for practical purposes, re-use of treated wastewater, and "detective work" on the behaviour of heavy metals in soils. He also teaches a very general course on terrain to 1st year landscape architecture students at RMIT Melbourne.
Robert's professional training started at Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands, where he obtained a BSc in 1956 and MSc degree in 1959. He was awarded a PhD in soil science from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 1971.
Robert has worked a lot in developing countries, and is based in Melbourne, Australia.
Robert started off with CSIRO in Canberra in 1959 and after working with various government departments, and from 1988 started his own consultancy, van de Graff & Associates.