Dr. Chris McAllister graduated from High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, and received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He got his M.S. in Biology from Arkansas State University. His Ph.D. was earned from the University of North Texas in Ecology. His doctoral thesis was entitled, “Systematics of Coccidian Parasites (Apicomplexa) from Amphibians and Reptiles in Northcentral Texas”. Dr. McAllister also received a postdoctoral fellowship in Internal Medicine at the VA Medical Center in Dallas where he studied diabetes research.

Chris’ research involves describing new species to science from his work on parasites of vertebrates, primarily fishes, reptiles, and birds. He is the author of over 700 papers in leading scientific journals, including Journal of Parasitology, Acta Parasitologica, Systematic Parasitology, and Folia Parasitologica.