Foundations of Freshwater Ecology – the Legacy of Dr. Allen Keast

Allen Keast was born in 1922 in Sydney, Australia and joined the Biology Department at Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada in 1962, retiring almost 30 years later 1989.  He established a field program at the Queen’s University Biological Station at Lake Opinicon, Ontario and for more than 30 years examined comparative morphology and competition in those fish communities.  Throughout his career, Allen was a strong proponent of field studies and field stations for both research and teaching, recognizing the value of exposing both undergraduate and graduate students to study aquatic organisms in their natural environment.  During Allen's time at Queen’s, he trained many undergraduates and at least 27 graduate students. He published more than 50 primary research papers, 60 book and conference chapters and 7 books on biogeography. His work served to draw the attention of the world’s ecologists and evolutionary biologists to the unique geographies of Australia and Canada. In the Canadian lakes, he was a leader in demonstrating that the ecology of fishes changes dramatically as they grow.