Rausch began his academic studies at the Ohio State University, where in 1942 he earned a bachelor's degree in zoology and entomology and in 1945 he attained the title DVM, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
As part of his research he completed extensive fieldwork in Brookskette, the North Slope region and St. Lawrence Island.
[1] In addition to his research work and teaching, Rausch served as a consultant for numerous national and international organizations related to matters of public health, zoonotic diseases, and polar biology.
To this day the name of Robert L. Rausch is inextricably linked with the study of the parasitic fauna and the zoonoses of the polar regions including Alaska and Eastern Siberia.
He and his wife Virginia R. Rausch amassed a collection of more than 60,000 predominantly parasitic worms preserved in alcohol, on glass slides, and as preparations for scanning electron microscopy.