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Robert Carter III was born in Lake Charles, LA. He first got interested in science when he was about 8 years old. He wanted to learn more about how things worked in animals and how the human body worked. He was very curious about how animals make humans know what they want, feelings of animals, and other things like that. Although at that point he didn’t have a name for it, he knows now it was physiology! His first interest was studying veterinary medicine.

Figuring Out a Career
Robert worked a summer with Dr. Dennis French, from Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. French was a large animal vet. He also did research studies on what were the best minerals to give to growing Holstein cows to make them stronger and healthier. He also did research on what types of worms and other internal bugs affect large animals. It was at this time that Robert found out he really liked doing research to answer questions. It was Dr. French who told Robert he should study science and go to school to learn to do research.

Getting All Those Degrees
When it came time to pick a college to go to, Robert chose Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA, mainly because they gave him money to go there both to study and to run on their track team. He graduated with majors in biology and chemistry in 1995. He went on to take more classes at Southern University and at Louisiana State University, both in Baton Rouge, LA. Robert went to these schools part-time to take classes until he decided where he wanted to go for his next degree and which area of science he wanted to study. It was while he was at Southern University that Robert was chosen to be in a new program that was for students wanting to get a Ph.D. degree. It was offered by Southern University together with the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, TX. After finishing that program and getting his Master’s degree in biology at Southern University in 1997, Robert moved to Texas and started working on his Ph.D. at the University of North Texas. His interests and goals at that time were to do research on blood pressure and how it is controlled by the body and what happens when someone gets high blood pressure. During the time he was working on his Ph.D., the University of North Texas started a School of Public Health. So, after Dr. Carter finished his Ph.D. in 2001, he decided to go ahead and get a Masters in Public Health in the study of diseases to go with his PhD degree. He got that degree in 2003.

Hot and Cold Research
The research that Dr. Carter does is on how humans deal with living places where it is very hot or very cold or that are high up in the mountains. He looks at how well people can work under those conditions and whether they get more injuries. He also studies whether people get sick more often and have more diseases when they are living in places where it is really hot.

Besides doing his research and his military duties, Dr. Carter is also has a part-time job in the Biology Department at his former school, Southern University. He goes there at least one week each semester to teach human anatomy and to give a talk about his research to the students.

Just this year, Dr. Carter moved from Massachusetts to continue his work at the Centre de Recherche du Service de Sante des Armees in LaTronche, France.

Dr. Carter helps out with Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay. He also helps with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity programs, like getting people to vote in elections and teaching young men about life and problems they’ll face.