Emeritus Professor Dr. George H. Allen will be honored with the naming of the George Allen Ichthyology Laboratory in the Wildlife and Fisheries Building. The late Michael G. Scott, a fisheries biologist and HSU alumnus (’75), will be memorialized with the dedication of the Wilma M. Scott Conference Room in the same building, where both ceremonies will be held on Friday, May 2 at 10:00 a.m.
George Allen is widely credited as a major guiding force in the development of HSU’s Department of Fisheries Biology and the success and prominence of the program. The George Allen Ichthyology Lab, a teaching facility for fisheries biology courses in Room 122, pays tribute to Allen’s many decades of instruction, research and innovation in the field.
Allen was recruited to Humboldt State College in 1956. After the departure of Professor Ernie Salo, Dr. Allen met a pressing need for the teaching of ichthyology, a course required of all Fisheries majors and a component of the curriculum for Wildlife and Biology majors. Although not trained as an ichthyologist, he worked hard on his own to learn the subject and developed an outstanding course.
Concurrently, Professor Allen was instrumental in developing and building the HSU Fish Collection, an integral part of the training of students in fish taxonomy, systematics and anatomy. This marked the start of his renowned career at Humboldt State.
He would go on to become a specialist in wastewater aquaculture and teamed closely with the community to develop the Arcata Wastewater Aquaculture Project, which demonstrated the raising of salmon and cutthroat trout fry in a mixture of municipal wastewater and bay water. It led to his involvement with the City of Arcata in developing a wastewater treatment facility and eventually the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. The Allen Marsh is named in his honor and his expertise in wastewater aquaculture is recognized worldwide.
These contributions also resulted in the development of the Wastewater Utilization Masters’ degree option in Natural Resources and his research captured headlines from San Francisco and San Diego to Evansville, Illinois.
Dr. Allen worked tirelessly to rehabilitate the streams and creeks in Arcata, and became one of the nation’s first leaders in studying and rehabilitating urban streams. He served as the Chair of HSU’s Department of Fisheries for many years and occupied many positions in faculty governance.
His extraordinary work and dedication were recognized in 1985 with a Humboldt Medal, rarely awarded to someone other than the University’s annual Scholar of the Year or Outstanding Professor. Formally retired in 1983, he continued to work indefatigably.
The Wilma M. Scott Conference Room will be named to honor a major benefactor who, along with her husband, C.L. Scott, has established two endowments—the Michael G. Scott Award for the Outstanding Senior Student in Fisheries and the Michael G. Scott Distinguished Lecture Series Endowment in Fisheries Biology. Both are named in memory of their son, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Zoology in 1975.
The Scotts also made the contributions necessary to refurbish the Fisheries Biology library and conference room, named in Wilma Scott’s memory.
For more information and directions, call the Department of Fisheries Biology at (707) 826-3953. Parking is limited and permits or metered parking are required.