Warren Douglas Allmon
Biography
Warren D. Allmon is the Director of the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) in Ithaca, NY and the Hunter R. Rawlings III Professor of Paleontology in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University. He earned his A.B. in Earth Sciences from Dartmouth College in 1982, and his Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard University in 1988. For four years he was Assistant Professor of Geology at the University of South Florida, Tampa, and became PRI's fourth Director in 1992. Since 1992, he has been instrumental in rejuvenating PRI's internationally-known fossil collections; starting its local, regional, and national programs in Earth science education; and in planning and fundraising for the Museum of the Earth, PRI's $11 million education and exhibit facility which opened in September 2003. In November 2004, Allmon helped secure a formal agreement of affiliation between PRI and Cornell, ending more than 70 years of official separation.
Allmon's major research interest is macroevolution and paleoecology, especially the ecology of the origin and maintenance of biological diversity and the application of the geological record to the study of these problems, particularly using Cenozoic marine gastropods (snails of the last 65 million years).
Allmon is the author of more than 200 technical and popular publications. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and the recipient of the 2004 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Public Understanding of Geoscience from the American Geological Institute.
Research Interests
Paleobiology, Paleoecology, Macroevolution, Evolution of Cenozoic Mollusks
Teaching Interests
Paleobiology, macroevolution and paleoecology
Selected Publications
- . 2011. "Natural history of turritelline gastropods: A status report." Malacologia 54 (1-2): 159-202.
- . 2010. "Biodiversity: The glory and the crisis." American Paleontologist 18 (3): 1.
- . 2009. "Speciation and Shifting Baselines: Prospects for reciprocal illumination between evolutionary paleobiology and conservation biology." In Conservation Paleobiology , edited by Gregory P. Dietl and Karl W. Flessa , 245-273. Boulder, CO: The Paleontological Society.
- . 2009. "The power (and peril) of paleontological images. Review of: "God or gorilla. Images of evolution in the Jazz Age" by Constance Areson Clark, "A history of paleontology illustration" by Jane P. Davidson, and "All in the Bones. A biography of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins" by Valerie Bramwell and Robert M. Peck." American Paleontologist 17 (2): 20-21.
- . 2012. "How can science educators improve science education in America and the world?." March.
Selected Awards and Honors
- Fellow (Paleontological Society) 2012
- Award for Outstanding Contribution to Public Understanding of the Geosciences (American Geological Institute) 2004
- Fellow (Geological Society of America) 2000
- First runner-up for Best Paper Award for 1994 (Journal of Paleontology) 1995
- National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship (National Science Foundation) 1982
Websites
Education
- BA (EARTH SCIENCE, GENL), DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, 1982
- Ph D (EARTH SCIENCE, GENL), HARVARD UNIVERSITY, 1988
