Johnny Dolphin
Explorer Author • Poet • Playwright • Scientist

Johnny Dolphin is the nom de plume of John Allen - explorer, author, poet, playwright, scientist, - in 1963 he gave up his New York international project development career to make a two year journey around the world living with the legendary avant-garde and Berber scene in Tangiers, Morocco, then continued dressed as an Arab hiking and hitch-hiking across N. Africa to the Pyramids and Karnak to study the origins of civilization. Deciding to move toward the tribal areas and explore the area of the origins of humanity, he traveled up the Nile, with tribal chiefs and shaman from the South Sudan to Lake Victoria, then journeyed on through Uganda, Kenya, to the sacred Zambezi, then returned north to stay in Swahili Mombasa before taking third class passage with refugees to the Rann of Kutch. From there he wandered through the physical and metaphysical realms of Hindu Karma yogins and Tibetan Lamas. Then he encountered America again working as a stringer to a foreign correspondent and in a hospital on the Ho Chi Minh trail. Though he had published some poetry before, he emerged as an accomplished author with the first book of his authoritative Novel of the Sixties, "Thirty-Nine Blows on a Gone Trumpet". Since then, he has chronicled a personal and social history of the essence of the places he has been through novels, poetry, short stories and plays.

John Allen, inventor and co-founder of the Biosphere 2 project - the world’s largest laboratory for global ecology. Biosphere 2 set a number of world records in closed life system work including, among others, degree of sealing tightness, 100% waste recycle and water recycle, and duration of human residence within a closed system (8 people for two years -- see www.biospherics.org ). Allen began the first manned Biosphere Test Module experiment in September, 1988, residing in the almost fully recyclable closed ecological system environment for three days and setting a world record at that time.

As the Executive Chairman that started up the project and then as Director of Biospheric Research, Development and Engineering for the project, Allen led the world class science and engineering teams that created Biosphere 2's materially closed life system, as well as the development of spin-off technologies. He currently serves as the Chairman of Global Ecotechnics Corporation, an international project development and management company with a Biospheres Division engaged in designing and preparing to build the second generation of advanced materially closed biospheric systems and ecologically enriched biomic systems (www.biospheretechnologies.com) and its EcoFrontiers Division which owns and operates ecological projects of which he was the chief designer in France, Australia, Puerto Rico and England (www.ecotechnics.edu).

Allen is also co-founder (with Abigail Alling) and Chairman of Biosphere Foundation, a 501 c (3) non-profit corporation devoted to mapping and monitoring the health and vitality of coral reefs, and the exploring the origins of human cultures aboard the Heraclitus, a research vessel that has sailed over 200,000 nautical miles around the world (www.pcrf.org).

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. 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 and early civilizations located in present day Nigeria, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Tibet, Turkey, India, Mexico and the Altiplano.

Dolphin has over two dozen publications to his credit, about half of them scientific, under the name John Allen, the rest in poetry, drama, prose, and film. A Fellow of the Linnean Society, Explorer’s Club, Royal Geographic Society, and the World Academy of Art and Science, Allen holds a degree in Metallurgical-Mining Engineering with honors from the Colorado School of Mines, an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School where he studied as a Baker Scholar, and holds an Engineering Physiology Certificate from the University of Michigan. Before engineering, he studied anthropology, classics, writing, and history at Northwestern, Stanford, and Oklahoma universities and served in the U.S. Army’s Engineering Corps. as a machinist. He was also a Union organizer on the south side of Chicago in 1951-52 where Paul Robeson and W.E.B.Dubois mentored him.

As Johnny Dolphin he has read his poetry and prose in many places around the world including George Whitman’s Shakespeare & Co. in Paris, the Green Street Cafe in New York where Ornette Coleman accompanied him on the saxophone, The October Gallery in London, (accompanied on occasion by poets such as Ira Cohen, Sebastian Barker, Jack Hirschman, Pops Mohammed, Jegede, and Aidan Dunn),. and the Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth, Texas. His plays have been performed in many countries on seven continents, from the ICA in London and Theatre du Soleil in Paris, to villages on the Amazon and streets in California, from Wroclaw to Oshogbo. As an acting teacher, he has taught over 200 actors and set up ten studios. He performs several times a year with musicians and dancers as Johnny & The Dolphins. He will be reading at City Lights in San Francisco this July 2005.

John is an accomplished speaker on Biospheric Science and Co-Evolutionary Comprehensive Project Design. He has spoken at a variety of international forums on the emerging science of biospherics, the implications of Biosphere 2 for health, environment, science, and culture, and the key role of space biospheres in the future, and the place and role of humanity in the biosphere.


Biosphere 2

NOVELS
Joe Madison: A trilogy of " a poet's odyssey through the heart of the action"

Dolphin, Johnny, Liberated Space, Synergetic Press 2000. (#3)
Dolphin, Johnny, Journey Around An Extraordinary Planet, Synergetic Press, London/Tucson 1990. (#2)
Dolphin, Johnny, Thirty-nine Blows on a Gone Trumpet, Synergetic Press, London/Tucson, 1987. (#1)

 

SHORT STORIES
Dolphin, Johnny, My Many Kisses, Synergetic Press 1998.


POETRY
Dolphin, Johnny, Off the Road, Synergetic Press 1998. (New poetry)
Dolphin, Johnny. Wild, Synergetic Press, Tucson, September 1992. (Collected Poems and Short Stories)
Dolphin, Johnny. The Dream and Drink of Freedom. Synergetic Press, London/Tucson, 1988. (Collected Poems)
Dolphin, Johnny. Author and narrator, The Dream and Drink of Freedom, The Talking Poets Series, Caravan of Dreams Productions, Fort Worth, 1989. (Audio Tape)


DRAMA

Some in collaboration with Kathelin Hoffman Gray and others:
"Tamarand", "Faust" (adaptation), "McNeckels Folly", "Marouf the Cobbler’, “Gilgamesh" (adaptation), "The Tin Can Man", "The Guru", "Oedipus at Colonus" (adaptation), "Life is a Dream" (adaptation), "Metal Woman", "Billy the Kid", "Cyberspace I", "Cyberspace II", "Milarepa" (adaptation), and "Deconstruction of the Countdown", a play adapted with William Burrough’s approval from his writings. Some of these plays were published in The Collected Works of the Caravan of Dreams Theater Volumes I and 11, Synergetic Press, London/Tucson, 1983/84. "Deconstruction of the Countdown: A Space Age Mythology" was published in abridged form in Poetry London Apple Magazine, No. 2, Editor: Tambimuttu, Editions Poetry London, London, 1982.



What writer Terry Wilson has to say about Johnny Dolphin


NON-FICTION WORKS

Allen, John, Biosphere 2: The Human Experiment. Viking/Penguin Books, 1991.

Allen, John. Succeed: Structuring Managerial Thought, Synergetic Press, Tucson, 1988.

Allen, J.P. and Nelson, Mark: Space Biospheres. Synergetic Press, 90p., softcover, London/Tucson, 1986; revised second edition, 1989. Orbit Publications, 90 p., hardcover. 1987. Russian translation by Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1991.


FILM/MULTIMEDIA PROJECTS

1993 Conceptual and visual design consultant for multi-media CD-ROM Biosphere 2.- Life, Earth, Space and Technology by IBM’s Multi-Media Publishing group with Paul Evans and Francesca Scalpi.

1987 Creative consultant, prize-winning film Omette: Made in America, based on the life of jazz musician Ornette Coleman, Caravan of Dreams Productions, Fort Worth.

1987 Documentary film producer and narrator, Joumeys to Other Worlds, a series of eleven cultural documentary films, Caravan of Dreams Productions in cooperation with Zagreb Television, Yugoslavia

1986 Documentary film producer, prize-winning film, Dark Planet, Caravan of Dreams Productions in cooperation with Zagreb Television, Yugoslavia.


SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS, PAPERS, AND PRESENTATIONS

M. Nelson, W. F. Dempster, S. Silverstone, A. Alling, J.P. Allen, M. van Thillo. January 2005. "Crop yield and light/energy efficiency in a closed ecological system: Laboratory Biosphere experiments with wheat and sweet potato."

Morowitz, H.*, Allen, J.**, Nelson, M.**, Alling, A.**, and Corliss, J.** 1993. "Closure as a Scientific Concept and its Application to Ecosystem Ecology and the Science of the Biosphere", *George Mason University, ** Space Biospheres Ventures (in review, Adv. Space Research, presented at COSPAR 2004).

Allen, J.P. 2003 “Ethnospherics: Origin of Human Cultures, Their Subjugation by the Technosphere, The Beginning of an Ethnosphere, and Steps Needed to Complete the Ethnosphere.” Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics (ESEP)
http://www.esep.de/articles/esep/2003/E29.pdf

Allen, J.P., M. Nelson, and A. Alling. 2003. “The legacy of Biosphere 2 for the study of Biospherics and Closed Ecological Systems.” COSPAR. (in press). F4.1-0002-02

Allen, J.and Alling, A. 2002. The design Approach for Mars on Earth™, A Biospheric Closed System Testing Facility for Long-term Space Habitation.” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. IAA.8.2.02

Allen, J. 2002. “People Challenges in Biospheric Systems for Long-Term Habitation in Remote Areas, Space Stations, Moon, and Mars Expeditions.” Life Support and Biosphere Science, Vo. 8 (in press). Cognizant Communications.

Allen, J., “Artificial Biospheres as a Model for Global Ecology,” Life Support and Biosphere Science, forthcoming June 2001.

Allen, J., Oct. 2000. “The Evolution of the New Disciplines of Closed Ecological Systems and Biospherics,” paper presented at Institute of Ecotechnics Conference, France.

Allen, J. September. 2000. “Problems and Challenges of Closed Ecological Systems,” paper presented at NASA Ames and Global Ecotechnics Corp Workshop on Ecosynthesis: Creating Open and Closed Ecosystems on Mars, Synergia Ranch, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Allen, J. 2000. “A Review of Humanity’s Taxonomic Classification,” (in review).

Allen, J. 2000. “Artificial Biospheres as a Model for Global Ecology on Planet Earth,” Life Support and Biosphere Science, Vol. 7, No. 3.

Nelson, M, Alling, A., Dempster, W.F., Van Thillo, M., Allen, John, June 2000. “Integration of Wetland Wastewater Treatment with Space Life Suport Systems: Mars Base Prototype,: paper presented at COSPAR, forthcoming publication Advances in Space Research, Pergamon.

Nelson, M, Alling, A, Allen, J., June 2000. “Developing and Testing a Soil Based Bioregenerative Agriculture System to Feed a Four Person Crew at a Mars Base,” paper presented at COSPAR, forthcoming publication in Advances in Space Research, Pergamon.

Allen, J. 1999. “Biospherics and Biosphere 2, Mission One (1991-1993),” Ecological Engineering 13.

Allen, J. 1997. “Biospheric Theory and Report on Overall Biosphere 2 Design and Performance During Mission One (1991-1993)” Life Support and Biosphere Science, Vol. 4, No. 3/4.

Allen, J. 1998. “Biospheric Ecology,” paper presented in October at Institute of Ecotechnics conference, France.

Allen, J. 1997. "Reclassification of the Human Species as properly belonging to a separate Kingdom, Symbolia, and not to the primate order of the Animal Kingdom." Talk given at October 25, Conference on Biospheres, Evolution, and Cultures, Les Marroniers, Aix-en-Provence, France.

Allen, J. 1997. Keynote speech "Applying Lessons learned from Biosphere 2 to Biosphere 1, Earth" presented at Tropical Seas Satellite Mission for Biospheric Studies of Coral Reefs, Santa Monica, California, January 10, 1997.

Allen, J. 1996. Biosphere 2. Presented at the Fifth International Aerospace Symposium, Nagoya, Japan, December 3, 1996 and published in the Proceedings.

Allen, J. 1996. Biosphere 2's Place in the History of Science. Presented at the Natural History Museum, Vienna, Austria, October 30, 1996.

Allen, J.P.; Nelson, M.; Burgess, T. L.; Abigail; A; Alvarez-Romo, N.; Dempster, W.F.; Walford, R.; "Initial Results from Biosphere A Closed Ecological System Laboratory," Bioscience, April 1993.

"The Environment and Health in Closed Ecological Life Systems", presentation at The Environment and Health Connection Conference, sponsored by the American Environmental Health Foundation, Dallas, Texas, February 27, 1993.

"The Mission of Life", paper presented at Forest '92 conference in Rio de Janeiro, May, 1992 representing Space Biospheres Ventures. Outlining conceptual design contributions of Biosphere 2 to Biosphere 1.

MacCallum, T.; Nelson, M.; Allen, J.P.; Leigh, L.S.; Alling, A.; Alvarez-Romo, N.: "The Biosphere 2 Project and its Application for Space Exploration and Mars Settlement." The Case for Mars IV, Volume 76, Science and Technology Series, American Astronautical Society, San Diego, 1992.

Nelson, M.; Leigh, L.; Alling, A.; MacCallum, T.; Allen, J. ; Alvarez-Romo, N.; "Biosphere 2 Test Module: A Ground-Based Sunlight-Driven Prototype of a Closed Ecological System". Paper #MF 11.2.6, COSPAR XXVIII Plenary Meeting, The Hague, Netherlands, Published V. 12, n. 5, Natural and Artificial Ecosystems, Life Sciences and Space Research XXIV 4 (1991) p. 151.

Nelson, M.; Allen, J.P.; Dempster, W.F.: "Biosphere 2: Prototype Project for a Permanent and Evolving Life System for a Mars Base". Paper # MF 1.4.6, COSPAR XXVIII Plenary Meeting, The Hague, Netherlands, 1991; published in: Advances in Space Research, V. 12, n. 5, Natural and Artificial Ecosystems, Life Sciences and Space Research XXIV 4 (1991) p. 211.

Allen, J.P.: An Historical Overview of the Biosphere 2 Project. Workshop on Biological Life Support Technologies: Commercial Opportunities, Mark Nelson and Gerald Soffen (ed.), NASA Conference Publication, NASA Office of Management, Scientific and Technical Information Division, Washington D.C., 1990. Also published in Biological Life Support Systems, Proceedings of the Workshop on Biological Life Support Technologies: Commercial Opportunities, Mark Nelson and Gerald Soffen (ed.), Synergetic Press, Tucson, 1990.

Allen, J.P.: "Biosphere 2 and the Concept of the Noosphere". Paper delivered at the Second International Review of the History, Current Work and Future of Closed Ecological Systems conference, co-sponsored by the Institute of Biophysics (USSR), Space Biospheres Ventures and the Institute of Ecotechnics, held in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, 1989.

Allen, J.P. and Nelson, Mark: Space Biospheres. Synergetic Press, 90p., softcover, London/Tucson. 1986; revised second edition, 1989. Orbit Publications, 90 p., hardcover. 1987. Russian translation by Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1991

Nelson, M. and Allen, J.P.: "Ecology and Space". Paper published in the Japanese Society for Biological Sciences in Space publication series, Vol. 3, No. 1, Tokyo, 1989, and reprinted in Lunar Habitation Vol. 1, by Japan Macro-Engineer Society and Lunar Habitation Institute, Tokyo, 1989.

Allen, J.P.: "The Scientific Legacy of V.I. Vernadsky". Paper delivered at Vernadsky Memorial Symposium, Kiev. March, 1988.

Allen, J.P.: "Geological, Hydrosphere and Atmosphere Data Needed to Plan Long-term Life Systems for Mars Habitation". Paper delivered at Brown University and Vernadsky Institute Micro-Symposium, Providence, RI March, 1988.

Allen, J.P.: "Modeling of Complex Ecological Systems". Paper delivered at the "International Review of the History, Current Work and Future of Closed Ecological Systems" conference arranged by Keith Runcorn, FRS, and the Institute of Ecotechnics and held at the Royal Society, London, July, 1987.

Allen, J.P.; Leigh, L.; Alling, A.; and MacCallum, T. "Man in Closed Ecological System" (unpublished)


John Dolphin Allen is represented by :

7 Silver Hills Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87508

Please contact Deborah Snyder

tango@synergeticpress.com

Tel. (505)-424-0237 Fax. (505)-424-3336

TOP