Prof. Dobbs earned a Ph.D. (2002) in experimental Particle Physics from the University of Victoria (Canada), was awarded the inaugural Owen Chamberlain Fellowship at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (USA) in 2002, and earned a Sloan Fellowship in 2009. He was named Canada Research Chair (T2) in Astro-particle Physics for two terms from 2006-2015. In 2014 he was awarded the inaugural Dunlap Award for Innovation in Astronomical Research Tools and the Canadian Association of Physicists Herzberg Medal.