David John Allen is a botanist and author, specialising in tropical legumes in Africa and habitat conservation in East Devon, UK.

Education and personal life

He was born in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

, UK in 1942. His parents were Della (née Williams) and Denis Allen, a diplomat. In 1946 the family moved to

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

in the USA returning to the UK in 1951. Allen was subsequently sent to boarding school in the UK. He became interested in natural history at a young age. In 1963 he enrolled at

Wye College The College of St Gregory and St Martin at Wye, commonly known as Wye College, was an education and research institution in the village of Wye, Kent. In 1447, Cardinal (Catholic Church), Cardinal John Kempe founded his chantry there which also ...

, University of London. His B.Sc. degree in horticulture included a year at the University Botanic Garden in Cambridge. He subsequently took a M.Sc. at Exeter University in Plant Pathology, including a project with S. A. J. Tarr, followed later by a Ph.D. at University of Cambridge supervised by Alice Evans about genetic resistance to rust disease in the common bean.

Botanical career

Allen had a career in tropical agriculture for over 20 years, concentrating on plant health and yield in

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

s. From 1969 he was employed for 2 years at the government Sisal Research Station near

Tanga, Tanzania Tanga (''Jiji la Tanga'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is a historic city and the capital of Tanga Region. The city is located in the northern port city of Tanzania to the west of the Indian Ocean on Tanga Bay. The city had a population of 393,42 ...

. He left to study for a doctorate and to change direction to legume crops, dividing his time between Cambridge in the UK and Bunda College of Agriculture in

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

. He then continued research at the

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

in Nigeria before returning to Cambridge. This resulted in a book about tropical legumes, focusing on crop improvements and disease resistance. Allen subsequently led a national programme of research on legumes in Zambia until in 1984 he moved to a post in northern Tanzania organised through the

International Center for Tropical Agriculture The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (known as CIAT from its Spanish-language name ) is an international research and development organization dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger while protecting natural resources in developin ...

in Cali, Colombia. In 1993 Allen returned permanently to the UK. He continued to visit East Africa and led tours there and to the Galapagos. However, his focus changed direction to local ecology and conservation around where he lived in East Devon. He became an active member of several local natural history organisations. Allen was a UK national expert on the genus ''

Rubus ''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, most commonly known as brambles. Fruits of various species are known as raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, and bristleberries. ...

''. He was involved in management and maintenance of the

Blackdown Hills The Blackdown Hills, or Blackdowns, are a range of hills along the Somerset-Devon border in south-western England. The plateau is dominated by hard chert bands of Upper Greensand with some remnants of chalk, and is cut through by river valleys. ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, including as a member of the management group until 2015. This included an area of

turbary Turbary is the ancient right to cut turf, or peat, for fuel on a particular area of bog. The word may also be used to describe the associated piece of bog or peatland and, by extension, the material extracted from the turbary. Turbary rights, whi ...

where management was changed to increase its wildlife value. David J. Allen should not be confused with David Elliston Allen (1932–2023), who was the president from 1985 to 1987 of the Botanical Society of the British Isles (renamed in 2013 the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland).

Awards

In 2016 David J. Allen was given an award at the National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty Landscapes for Life Conference 2016.

Publications

His books include: * David J. Allen (2008) ''A Travellers Guide to the Wildflowers and Common Trees of East Africa'' Camerapix Publishers International * David J. Allen (2000) ''Wild flowers of the East Devon coast'' Quantock Nature, 90 pages. * David J. Allen and Jillian M. Lenné (eds) (1997) ''The Pathology of Food and Pasture Legumes'' CABI Publishing, 768 pages. * D.J. Allen (1983) ''The Pathology of Tropical Food Legumes'' John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, David 1942 births Living people Alumni of Wye College Alumni of the University of Exeter Alumni of the University of Cambridge 21st-century British biologists People from Guildford 20th-century British botanists