Allan is an expert in international development, with over thirty years of global experience leading, researching, teaching, and advising at universities, the United Nations, NGOs, civil society, and funding organizations, including USAID. He has lived and worked in eight countries for over thirty years. He has led major programs, including being the founding Director of Global IDEAS at Michigan State University, the Principal Technical Coordinator for the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization Global Program on Fall Armyworm, and the founding Director of NicaSauld in Nicaragua.

With the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) he led the development and implementation of a global strategy to combat the invasive pest, the fall armyworm, that threatens food security and livelihoods in Africa and Asia. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, reviews, and technical guides, and has secured over $75 million in external funding. He is passionate about advancing evidence-based policies and practices that enhance food systems' resilience, equity, and sustainability. He has taught at Zamorano University in Honduras, the Universidad Nacional Agria in Nicaragua, North Carolina State University, Michigan State University, and the University of Michigan. 

In addition to teaching and advising students at UM, Allan is currently working with an NGOs and universities in the Global South to demonstrate the effectiveness and adoption by smallholder maize farmers in the use of simple, effective, and accessible fall armyworm techniques, especially the use of soil as a control tactic.