Lieutenant Commander Matthew Allenson   

Character Information
Name		Matthew Noah Allenson
Rank		Lieutenant Commander
Position		Chief Science Officer
Gender		Male
Species		Human
Age		30
Physical Appearance
Height		6’ 6”
Weight		175 lbs.
Eye Color		Green
Hair Color		Brown
Physical Description		Matt is quite tall and in very good shape, but not what most people would describe as brawny or especially muscular-looking. Dark hair, green eyes. He wears glasses due to farsightedness and a retinax allergy - strictly speaking, he really only needs them to read or to see close up; his distance vision is fine. But between the need to fix lab instrumentation and make precise measurements close up, and his habit of taking his glasses off and forgetting where he left them, he finds life much simpler if he just wears them all the time.

Personality & Traits
General Overview
Matt is a very friendly, laid-back guy with a ready laugh and a good sense of humor. He invariably snaps to attention and addresses superior officers as 'Sir' until instructed otherwise, but keeps his lab staff on a first name basis. Friendly nature aside, however, there are some things he has no tolerance for. He accepts no excuses for sloppy lab practice, and he expects all of his officers to work together - disagreements happen, naturally, but he expects people to resolve them like mature adults. He isn't generally one to lose his temper, preferring to handle both disagreements and discipline in a rational matter - the largest exception to this is if someone should threaten his family, in which case all bets are off. He is not, however, one to throw punches unless cornered. Matt's specialty is analytical and physical chemistry. He has done some work with lasers, but his primary research area is in reaction kinetics. He has a Ph.D in physical chemistry, but generally doesn’t talk about it much unless it’s relevant. Partially because it’s considered poor form outside academia and partially to avoid confusion with his wife the MD, he never goes by Dr. Allenson – he goes by rank, and Sofie goes by Dr.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Matt is a very strong scientist, always looking at everything in his lab and many things out of it from a logical perspective. His work as an analytical chemist (it’s abbreviated to anal chem for a reason…) has made him a stickler for precision. This can make things interesting cooking with his wife, as Sofie is an organic biochemist (who cares about measurements, as long as you have enough of your limiting reagent, your reaction will go to completion), as Matt goes about carefully measuring everything and Sofie just tosses it in. Matt is very good with numbers. Calculus annoys him, but he is a whiz with arithmetic, doing a lot of it in his head. He also has a way with computers. As a department head, he isn’t one to sweat the small stuff. If an officer comes in late with a good reason, he’ll just tell them to make up the time by the end of the week. He won’t resort to disciplinary action unless it becomes a habit. He has no issue with minor pranks as long as time and place are kept appropriate and they don’t jeopardize lab safety or efficiency. ***** Matt is not the most tactful man in the galaxy. He honestly doesn’t mean to hurt feelings, but he has a tendency to speak his mind and not think about it until afterwards. While he is capable of fixing most of the minor instrumentation problems, like replacing parts, in his lab himself, Matt is not an electrician, and if there is a major problem with an instrument, he’ll call in the engineers. Matt is mildly asthmatic. The problem is well controlled, but there are a number of triggers, stress in particular, which will set him off. Matt hates phasers with a passion. Like most former marines, he is a very sharp shot, but he has been touchy about phasers ever since his wife was hurt, and he does not carry one unless it is absolutely necessary.
Ambitions
Matt is quite content with where and what he is, but he would love to discover a new element or reaction, and hopes to someday publish a textbook on reaction kinetics.
Hobbies & Interests
reading, writing, playing guitar, trombone, and cello, track and field, swimming, baseball, soccer, trivial pursuit, chess, scrabble
Languages		Standard, Vulcan, Romulan, Andorian
Family
Father		Kyle Allenson
Mother		Stacey Allenson
Brother(s)		Rick Allenson
Sister(s)		Christa Evans
Spouse		Sofie Allenson
Children		Hallie Allenson, Mickie Allenson
Other Family		Merlin the cat, Sadie the beagle

Matt grew up the middle child of three in Sunset Beach, NC, a small island off the coast of North Carolina. His mother is a seminary professor and his father is a marine biologist. He spent much of his childhood reading, playing sports, or tearing around the beach with his brother and sister. When he wasn’t busy with that, he usually had his mind on some science project or other. Always fascinated with how everything worked, he was the child who was forever asking why.

Being a scientist was a natural career choice, and, wishing to see the stars, he enrolled in Starfleet Academy upon graduating in the top five percent of his high school class. Despite his laid-back nature, he found that he enjoyed a highly structured environment, as it fit with his scientific perspective, and he quickly found his place in the marine corps. While there, he quickly fell in love with a premed/chemistry double-major, a young soon-to-be combat medic named Sofie. They were married shortly after graduating from the Academy. Requesting and receiving an assignment to San Francisco while Sofie was in medical school, he took advantage of the opportunity and went back to school himself, earning his Ph.D in physical chemistry. After graduating, again with honors, they shipped out aboard the USS Odysseus, where he was stationed with the 748th Marine detachment as a lab technician and field scientist.

About two years after they shipped out, Sofie was part of a medical relief team sent to a backwater outpost of questionable morality and was wounded in action. She survived the experience, but with lasting knee injuries. When it became clear that she would never regain sufficient mobility to be able to function on the front lines again, and was thus useless as a combat medic, she was offered medical retirement. She declined. Instead, she and Matt requested a transfer to Starfleet so that Sofie could be kept stationed to sickbay. Though it took considerable adjustment initially, Matt has since found that he prefers the more laid-back environment in the fleet, where he is free to have his lab staff simply call him Matt, rather than salute when he steps into the room and address him as Commander.

 

Last stationed aboard Starbase Mir as Assistant Chief Science Officer for three years

Previously stationed aboard the USS Ryazan as Science officer for five years

Stationed aboard the USS Odysseus as Lab Technician and Field Scientist for two years