Years at Knox: 1997 to present

Education
Ph.D., Biology, 1991, University of California Berkeley
M.S., Biology , 1986, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island
B.S., Biology, 1981, University of Puget Sound

Professional Interests
"I am fascinated by how plant communities recover from disturbance, in particular from human disturbance. As a result I have become interested in the restoration and reconstruction of badly damaged plant communities. Tallgrass prairies are one of the most badly disturbed ecosystems in the world. About 99.9% of the original tallgrass prairie in Illinois has been lost. The only way we will ever have more tallgrass prairie is if we grow it.

I am currently studying the reconstructed prairies at Green Oaks, Knox's biological field station. The prairie reconstructions were initiated by the late Paul Shepard in 1954 and continued by Peter Schramm. My prairie research is mostly dedicated to studying and monitoring changes in the prairies at Green Oaks. I have also developed a long-term study examining the demography of tree species at Green Oaks. More recently I have become fascinated by the ethics of ecological restoration and have been trying to develop an ethical system that permits restoration while still respecting the natural world. Developing that ethical system is proving to be surprisingly difficult to do."

Teaching Interests
populations, organisms, genetics and molecular biology, plants, principles of ecology, field botany, conservation biology, ethnobotany, field biology, teaching First Year Preceptorial, Green Oaks Term

Recent Scholarly Achievements
Publications
Presentations
Involvement

Publications
Book review in Proceedings of the 2004 North American Prairie Conference.

"What do we mean when we talk about ecological restoration?" Ecological Restoration 22:281-286, 2004.

"Geographic distribution of Hemidactylium scutatum." With M. Meyer '99 and J. Crawford. Herpetological Review 33:217, 2002.

"When is a restoration successful? Results from a 45-year-old tallgrass prairie restoration." Ecological Restoration. 20:10-17. 2002.

"The influence of microhabitat variation on seedling recruitment of Atlantic white cedar and red maple." With J. Ehrenfeld. Wetlands 19:383-393, 1999.

"Savanna Ecology: Current Knowledge and Future Needs." Review of Guy R. McPherson's "Ecology and Management of North American Savannas," in Ecology, 1997.

"Recruitment and establishment of salt marsh plants following disturbance by flooding." The American Midland Naturalist, 136, (1996) 232-247.

Presentations
"Back to the Earth Ethic: Reading Leopold in Reverse." Commentary, International Association of Environmental Philosophy and the International Society for Environmental Ethics.

"The Language of Restoration." Invited Talk, 2005 Iowa Prairie Conference, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

"Presentation Research into Prairie Restoration," Presentation, Luther College.

"Effective Use of a Field Station for Undergraduate Education in a Changing Liberal Arts College Environment." Organized and Hosted, Pew Midstates Science and Mathematics Consortium, Green Oaks Field Research Center, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois.

"Dig Into Spring." Keynote address on the necessity of ecological restoration when gardening, Master Gardeners meeting, University of Illinois Extension, Galesburg, Illinois, 2005.

"When is a restoration successful? Lessons from Green Oaks." Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, 2005.

Involvement
Department Chair, Biology

Panelist, National Science Foundation Biology Directorate Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.

Director, Green Oaks Biological Field Station

Curator of the Herbarium, Knox College

Participant, "In Search of Earth Ethics" course taught by Jane Goodall, Stephan Harding, and Kate Rawles, Schumacher College, Devon, England, 2005.

Member, Knox College Executive Committee

Advisor, Knox Environmental Management Cooperative Program with Duke University; Alpha Phi Omega; Outdoor Recreation Club

Member, Ecological Society of America

Member, Society for Conservation Biology

Member, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

Member, Society for Ecological Restoration

Member, Board of Editors of Restoration Ecology, published by the Society for Ecological Restoration

Contact
309-341-7185 
sallison@knox.edu

What Students Say
"Biology comes to life when Professor Allison adds his enthusiasm to lectures and lab work.  His classes are filled with up-to-date research and personal experience that really drive the information home. His enthusiasm for knowledge is supported by a sincere concern for every student's education and well-being."
—Abigail York, biology and economics major