George Herbert Allen (August 16, 1923, Kusnacht, Switzerland – May 9, 2011, McKinleyville, California) was an American

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

and

fisheries scientist Fisheries science is the academic discipline of managing and understanding fisheries. It is a multidisciplinary science, which draws on the disciplines of limnology, oceanography, freshwater biology, marine biology, meteorology, conservation, ...

. His father was a US consul and they family moved to

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

with his father's posting in 1927 and George remained there until he went to the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

as an undergraduate where he graduated before entering the military during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war he completed his master's and doctorate degrees at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1956, where he met his wife, Beverly Robinson. He started a position at the Cal Poly Humboldt an association which was to last over 30 years, ending his career as a professor of fisheries. At Cal Poly Humboldt he played an important part in setting up the university's

oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of to ...

program and its graduate program in fisheries. He was awarded the President's Distinguished Service Award by the Cal Poly Humboldt and had a lab and part of the Arcata Wastewater Treatment Plant and Wildlife Sanctuary was named in his honor. Allen was nicknamed "Fishy" by the

Arcata, California Arcata (; ; ) is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay (United States), Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. A ...

, city hall workers he co-operated with in the creation of its pioneering artificial marsh wastewater treatment facility. The

toadfish {{short description, Common name used for fish Toadfish is the common name for a variety of species from several different families of fish, usually because of their toad-like appearance or calls using their swimbladder. File:OysterToadfish.jpeg, ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Allenbatrachus ''Allenbatrachus'' is a genus of toadfishes found in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. The generic name honours the Humboldt State University ichthyologist George Allen (1923-2011), who introduced David Greenfield, who coined the name, t ...

'' was named in his honor by one of his former students, David W. Greenfield, for Allen's introduction of Greenfield to ichthyology. He was survived by his wife, Beverley, and their three daughters.

References

American ichthyologists University of Washington alumni University of Wyoming alumni 1923 births 2011 deaths People from Küsnacht California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt faculty American expatriates in Switzerland American expatriate academics in Canada American military personnel of World War II {{US-zoologist-stub