John Polk Allen is a systems ecologist and engineer, metallurgist, adventurer and writer. He is best known as the inventor and Director of Research of Biosphere 2

Biosphere 2

Biosphere 2 is a structure originally built to be an artificial, materially-closed ecological system in Oracle, Arizona by Space Biosphere Ventures, a joint venture whose principal officers were John P. Allen, inventor and Executive Director, and Margret Augustine, CEO...

, the world's largest laboratory of global ecology, and was the founder of Synergia Ranch

Synergia Ranch

Synergia Ranch is an ecovillage founded in 1969 by John P. Allen, the inventor and Director of Research of Biosphere 2.-External Links:** by Rebecca Reider, ISBN 978-0826346735...

. Allen is a proponent of the science of biospherics.

Allen currently serves as Chairman of Global Ecotechnics, and a director of Biospheric Design and of Institute of Ecotechnics. He is Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society

Royal Geographical Society

The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...

, the Linnean Society, and the Explorers Club.

In the early sixties, John Allen worked on regional development projects with David Lillienthal’s Development Resources Corporation in the U.S., Iran, and Ivory Coast where he became an expert in complex regional development. Before that he headed a special metals team at Allegheny-Ludium Steel Corporation which developed over thirty alloys to product status. He has led expeditions studying ecology, particularly the ecology of early civilizations: Nigeria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tibet, Turkey, India, and the Altiplano.

He studied anthropology and history at Northwestern, Stanford, and Oklahoma Universities, and served in the U.S. Army’s Engineering Corps as a machinist. He graduated from Colorado School of Mines and received an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...

. In the early 1960s, Allen headed a special metals team at Allegheny-Ludlum Steel Corporation which developed over thirty alloys to product status, then he worked with David Lillienthal’s Development Resources Corporation in the U.S., Iran, and Ivory Coast.

Under the pen name, Johnny Dolphin, he has chronicled his personal history alongside the social history of his many destinations in novels, poetry, short stories and plays.