Dr. Ethan Allen joined the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) in August 2019. His work focuses thematically on: (1) improving security in terms of environmental resilience, with a special focus on water security challenges in the Indo-Pacific; (2) cognitive warfare and resilience (including the science underlying systems thinking, learning for security, collective intelligence, and metacognition); and (3) the science-security-society interface (particularly biotech and other emerging technologies). Geographically, his interests center on the Pacific Islands, with an emphasis on Micronesia.
Previously, at Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL), Dr. Allen oversaw the development and growth of PREL’s science, technology, and mathematics education programs throughout Hawaii and the other U.S. – affiliated Pacific islands. Dr. Allen served as Principal Investigator of the National Science Foundation’s Water for Life: Community Education for Water Conservation and Rainwater Harvesting in the United States Affiliated Pacific Islands program. This five-year, $2.6 million project fostered broad community water science learning, improved access to potable water, and enhanced water security and resiliency across Micronesia. As part of this work, Dr. Allen co-authored a broadly useful 280-page reference, “Water for Life: A Pacific Island Handbook for Education, Health, and Community Resilience.”
Dr. Allen also served as Co-PI for an NSF INCLUDES project, Water Network for Team STEM, bringing together USAPI communities in collective impact endeavors to enhance drinking water security and resilience. Additionally, he led the external evaluation for the University of Hawaii’s ‘Ike Wai project – a five-year, $20M grant from NSF’s EPSCoR to model and match groundwater resources in Hawaii.
Dr. Allen previously directed diverse science education improvement programs at the University of Washington’s Center for Nanotechnology and the Department of Molecular Biotechnology, and at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, raising millions of dollars in grant funding and serving as Co-PI on several projects. Earlier in his career, he was an Associate Director for Policy and Planning at the Teachers Academy for Mathematics and Science in Chicago. Before that, he was an exhibit developer for the Museum of Science and Industry there.
Outside of his formal work, Dr. Allen hosted a weekly live-streamed Internet TV show, Likable Science, on Think-Tech Hawaii, promoting science and STEM as accessible and fascinating parts of all of our lives. Earlier, Dr. Allen also served as President of the Board of Directors for the Hawaii Public Health Association.
Dr. Allen received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the State University of New York at Binghamton, his doctorate in systems and integrative biology (neuroscience) from the University of Oregon, and conducted postdoctoral research there and at the University of Texas at Austin.
