Robert Martin Bone's first degree was a BA (1955) in Geography from the University of British Columbia. He earned an MA from the University of Washington (1957), and a PhD from the University of Nebraska (1962). Employed as Geographer with the Geographical Branch of the Government of Canada from 1957 to 1963, Dr. Bone joined the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan's Department of Geography in 1963. He remained in the Department of Geography until 1970 when he became Professor and Director of the Institute of Northern Studies (INS). With the closure of the INS in 1982, Dr. Bone returned to the Department of Geography. In 2000, he became the Acting Head of the Department of Native Studies. Among Dr. Bone's areas of expertise are the Canadian sub-arctic and arctic and the Soviet Union. Dr. Bone was named Professor Emeritus.