M. James Allen is a biologist who specializes in the ecology and environmental biology of marine fishes. He received his B. A. degree in Zoology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1963, his M. A. degree in Zoology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1970, and his Ph.D. degree in Marine Biology from the University of California, San Diego (Scripps Institution of Oceanography) in 1982. Dr. Allen was an assistant environmental specialist at SCCWRP from 1971 to 1977, returned to graduate school from 1977 to 1982 to get his Ph.D., was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate from 1982 to 1984, an oceanographer at the National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center in Seattle, WA, from 1984 to 1986, and a senior scientist at MBC Applied Environmental Sciences from 1986 to 1993. He returned to SCCWRP in February 1993 as a prinicipal scientist. He was an Affiliate Assistant Professor at University of Washington, College of Ocean and Fisheries Sciences from 1985 to 1989 and is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biology at California State University, Long Beach. His studies have focused on the ecology, environmental biology, and biogegraphy of Southern California, Northeast Pacific, and Bering Sea fishes, as well as assessing environmental conditions in Southern California. His present research efforts focus on assessing natural and anthropogenic changes in marine fish populations and assemblages.