John Michael Robbins

Title
Chair and Professor
Email
Department
Aeronautical Science Department
College
College of Aviation

Areas of Expertise

Flight Training and Safety

Corporate Flight Operations

Advanced Air Mobility

Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Operations and Remote Sensing

Helicopters

John Michael Robbins

John Robbins, Ph.D., FRAeS, serves as chair and professor of the Aeronautical Science Department. His research focuses on flight training and safety issues impacting the aviation community, ecological applications of remote-sensing technologies through Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) and advancing emergent technologies, particularly in the field of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM).

Dr. Robbins holds a B.A. in Geology, an M.S. in Aeronautical Science and a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering. He is commercially rated in rotorcraft and holds an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with an A320-series type rating. A Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Dr. Robbins actively contributes to numerous committees supporting the university’s mission.

In addition to his leadership role, he teaches a range of undergraduate and graduate courses within the College of Aviation and remains deeply engaged in aviation-related research.

  • Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida
  • M.S. - Master of Science in Aeronautics: Aviation/Aerospace Education and Aviation Aerospace Management, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
  • B.A. - Bachelor of Arts in Geology, University of Florida
  • Airline Transport Pilot - Federal Aviation Administration
  • Remote Pilot - Federal Aviation Administration
  • Ground Instructor - Federal Aviation Administration
  • Commercial Pilot - Federal Aviation Administration
  • UA 301: Advanced UAS Flight Operations
  • MSA 535: Current Issues in Uncrewed Sys
  • AS 221: Instrument Pilot Operations
  • UA 401: UAS Mission Application
  • Wallace, R.J. Kiernan, K.M., Robbins, J.M., & Haritos, T. (2019). Small Unmanned Aircraft System Operator Compliance with Visual Line of Sight Requirements. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 6(2).  https://commons.erau.edu/ijaaa/vol6/iss2/3
  • Wallace, R.J., Robbins, J.M., Loffi, J.M., Holliman, J.K., Metscher, D.S., & Rogers, T.R. (2020). Evaluating LAANC Utilization & Compliance for Small Unmanned Aircraft in Controlled Airspace. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace. https://commons.erau.edu/ijaaa/vol7/iss2/4/
  • Wallace, R.J., Kiernan, K.M., Haritos, T., Robbins, J.M., & Loffi, J.M. (2019). Evaluating small UAS operations and potential National Airspace System interference using AeroScope. Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.7771/2159-6670.1189
  • Macchiarella, Nickolas D., Robbins, J.M., & Cashdollar. (2019). Rapid Virtual object Development using Photogrammetric Imagery Obtained with Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems – Applications for Disaster Assessment and Cultural Heritage Preservation. AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum. https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.2019-1974
  • Wallace, R.J., Kiernan, K.M., Haritos, T., Robbins, J.M., & D’souza, G.V. (2018). Evaluating small UAS operator midair collision risk using AeroScope and ADS-B. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 5(4).  https://doi.org/10.15394/ijaaa.2018.1268
  • Wallace, Ryan, Haritos, Tom, Robbins, John M. (2018) Building Evidence the Federal Aviation Administration’s UAS Safety Strategy Needs Improvement. 2018. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace. https://commons.erau.edu/ijaaa/vol5/iss1/10/
  • Robbins, John M., Olexa, Michael, Grant, Lauren. (2017). Flyover: The Potential Impact of Agroterrorism and Bioterrorism within Agricultural Aerial Application Operations. The Florida Bar Journal, 91 (8). https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/flyover-the-potential-impact-of-agroterrorism-and-bioterrorism-within-agricultural-aerial-application-operations/
  • Terwilliger, Brent, Ison, David, Robbins, John M., Vincenzi, Dennis. Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Guide: Exploring Designs, Operations, Regulations and Economics. 2016. Aviation Supplies and Academics.
  • Robbins, John M., Terwilliger, Brent, Ison, David & Vincenzi, Dennis. (2016). Wide Scale Small Unmanned Aircraft System Access to the National Airspace System. In Proceedings of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International 43rd Annual Symposium. Arlington, VA: Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.
  • Stansbury, Richard S., Robbins, John M., Towhidnejad, Massood, Terwilliger, Brent, Moallemi, Mohammad and Clifford, Jayson. (2015) Modeling and Simulation for Autonomous Systems, Information Systems and Applications, incl. Internet/Web, and HCI, 9055 (pp. 40–59). New York, NY: Springer International Publishing. DOI: 10.1007-978-319- 22383-4.
  • Haritos, T., Robbins, J.M. (2012). “The use of high fidelity simulators to train UAS pilot and sensor operator skills.” Proceedings of Society of Applied Learning Technologies: New Technologies 2011.
  • Lehtola, Carol J., Charles M. Brown, and John M. Robbins. Agrochemicals and Security: A Training Module for the Safe and Secure Storage of Pesticides and Fertilizers. 2005. Florida Cooperative Extension Service. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.