The GGRO’s first director, Allen Fish was hired in 1985. With a background in evolutionary ecology and conservation biology from UC Davis, Allen has a particular interest in bird population responses to urban development, climate change, and other human pressures.
Until 2016, Allen also served as the lead staff contact for GGRO’s Hawkwatch Program, and for hawk nesting studies in the Presidio and Berkeley. Since then, Allen has passed on management of the Hawkwatch Program to allow more time for oversight of GGRO development, sustainability, partnerships, research, and media/public relations. Allen also sees GGRO’s three decades of data collection as an excellent long-term case study for examining both community science and public participation in scientific research.
Allen has served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Raptor Research, was Chair of the Hawk Migration Association of North America’s Research Committee for a half-decade, and has taught classes and led tours for the California Academy of Sciences. From 2003–2011, he taught an upper-division Raptor Biology course at the University of California at Davis. In 2003, HMANA awarded him the Maurice Braun Award for contributions to hawk migration study & conservation. Allen also serves on advisory boards for the Belize Raptor Research Institute, and RapTours, Inc.
