Robert was born in Hazard Kentucky in October of 1974. He attended grade school at Robert W. Combs Elementary and high school at Dilce Combs Memorial at Jeff, Kentucky. After high school Robert attended Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) where he received his B.S. in Wildlife Management. It was in a freshman chemistry class at EKU where he met his wife Brandy. Robert and Brandy married in August of 2005 in Lexington, Kentucky and currently reside in Versailles, Kentucky with their two sons. Their first son Noah was born in December 2008 and recently turned 13 years old. Their second son Nathaniel was born in September 2011 and is 10 years old.Robert began his career at Palmer Engineering in Winchester, Kentucky, where he worked for approximately 5 years in the environmental section preforming ecological surveys primarily for transportation and site development related projects. After Palmer, Robert worked for Eco-Tech Consultants located in Frankfort, Kentucky for approximately 3.5 years. At Eco-Tech he conducted a wide variety of biological surveys for a multitude of clients. After Eco-Tech, Robert worked for Aquatic Resources Management (ARM) in Lexington, Kentucky for approximately 2.5 years conducting Clean Water Act water quality sampling for natural resource extraction companies as part of their permit requirements under their Kentucky Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. After ARM, Robert worked for Apogee Environmental and Archaeological Inc's Lexington, Kentucky office for almost 4 years, where he continued to conduct a variety of ecological surveys for federally listed species. After Apogee, Robert worked nearly 5 years for Jackson Environmental Consulting Services in Richmond, Kentucky. While at Jackson he work tirelessly to further develop and expand his knowledge of environmental consulting and clean water act permitting. Currently, Robert is employed at Palmer Engineering in Winchester, Kentucky, where he began his career, now as senior environmental biologist.