Gerald R. Allen

Gerald Robert "Gerry" Allen (born March 26, 1942[1] in Los Angeles, California) is an American-born Australian ichthyologist. His career began in 1963, when he spent a semester at the University of Hawaii, where he also received a PhD in marine zoology in 1971.[2] In 1972, Allen wrote his doctoral thesis on the systematics and biology of the anemone fish.

In 1974, he was made curator at the Western Australian Museum in Perth till 1997, where Allen moved to Conservation International, working as a science team leader undertaking coral reef fish surveys in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and the Philippines until 2003.[3] Allen has written 33 books and about 400 scientific papers.[4] In 2003, he received the K. Radway Allen Award from the Australian Society for Fish Biology for his outstanding scientific achievements in the field.[5]

He has mapped and analysed the distributions of all Indo-Pacific coral reef fishes.[6] Allen continues to publish scientific papers and is involved in the nonprofit organisation Conservation International, especially for the preservation of biodiversity in the area of Vogelkop Peninsula.