Allen G. Collin

Roles: Special Guest

Allen G. Collins is an Invertebrate Zoologist with Curatorial Responsibilities for Medusozoa (Cnidaria) and Hexactinellida (Porifera). He graduated from University of California at Berkeley, Department of Integrative Biology in 1999. Also he received his B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from Amherst College in 1987.

His research focuses on the evolutionary history of relatively simple animals, cnidarians (jellyfishes, corals, etc.), placozoans (aka Trichoplax), and sponges. He generates and uses evolutionary trees, known as phylogenetic hypotheses, to better understand how the amazing biodiversity of these groups — in terms of morphology, life history, and genetics — has come to be.

Allen was an Editorial Board Member of Systematic Biology PI (with 8 others) on NSF Assembling the tree of life program – An integrative approach to investigating cnidarian phylogeny, 2005-2009.