[citation needed] She then returned to UCL in 1987 to start a PhD with Professor George Stewart, "Nitrogen metabolism in carrot cell cultures" which she completed in 1990.

[7] Her research examines how plants respond to climate change with an integrated systems approach using molecular to ecological techniques.

The research is providing some of the first evidence that climate change and ozone depletion are affecting East Antarctic terrestrial communities.

[14] In her research she uses unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to measure canopy productivity using chlorophyll fluorescence and spectroscopic techniques.

[16][17] Robinson is a member of the United Nations Environment Programme Environmental Effects Assessment Panel,[18] served on the Australian Research Council College of Experts (2013-2017),[7][19] and is an Editor for the journal Global Change Biology and Conservation Physiology.

[20] She has written several articles for the public,[21] exhibited Antarctic photography, produced award-winning YouTube video to promote science and presented a TEDx talk.

At the start of her research career the Linnean Society of London awarded her the Irene Manton Prize, for the Best UK PhD in Botany, 1991.

[34] Robinson was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours for "significant service to science, particularly the study of Antarctic environmental change".