Ray Allen, Ph.D

Boozhoo! I’m Ray or Niigaanigaabaw and my pronouns are he/him/his. I’m an NSF postdoctoral fellow at UW-Madison’s Center for Limnology at Trout Lake Station. My current research focuses on parasites of freshwater fishes in what is currently called northern Wisconsin in collaboration with the Lac du Flambeau Fish Hatchery. Specifically, I’m assessing parasite presence, diversity, and magnitude in Muskellunge and Walleye in the ceded territory.

I am an enrolled citizen of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, and was raised on the tribe’s reservation. I received my A.B. in Chemistry-Biology from Ripon College in 2015 where I was a McNair Scholar and student researcher. In 2021, I received my PhD in Biology with a minor in Science & Society from Duke University in 2021. During my time at Duke I was an NSF graduate research fellow, a BioCoRE Scholar, an inaugural Race & the Professions Fellow, and I received the 2019 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring.

Outside of my work as a researcher, I’m a beadwork artist where my pieces intersect on Ojibwe styles, non-human animals and plants, and popular culture. I was elected to and served on the Lac du Flambeau Tribal Council from 2022 to 2024.

My current research is on parasite presence, diversity, and magnitude in freshwater fish populations in northern Wisconsin at UW-Madison Center for Limnology’s Trout Lake Station. My work is in collaboration with the Lac du Flambeau Tribal Natural Resources Department and focuses mostly on diseases affecting Muskellunge and Walleye lake populations.

Concurrently as a junior Science & Technologies Scholar, I’m investigating how human relationships with lakes in the area impact the research in Western institutions, inform (or don’t) natural resource policies and management practices, and the affect the health of non-human animals and plants in these waters. I have a particular interest performing this work through an Indigenous STS lens.

My PhD dissertation work in the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus revolved around larval immune system development, and injury repair and response. For my minor, I focused on the origin of sea urchins in research and how it’s linked to colonial research practices in the origins of marine field stations. If you’re interested in knowing more, please check out the link to my dissertation here: https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/handle/10161/24356