Through UC's Carbon Neutrality Initiative, he established the Climate Action Training Program, an interdisciplinary program focused on skills development for students pursuing careers in climate sustainability. Dr. Allison teaches introductory and ecosystem ecology. His research focuses on ecosystem responses to climate change, including resilience of microbial communities to drought, and the effect of rapid climate change on carbon losses from southern California ecosystems. Dr. Allison is also building mathematical models that incorporate feedbacks among microbial communities, carbon cycling, and climate change.