BAS Executive Committee communication on AAA Mission Statement:
Download as PDF
The above is the official BAS response.
Some members and other biological anthropologists also composed and sent this letter to the Executive Board of the AAA.
Summer 2011, University of Iowa Study Abroad program and TREE field studies (http://treefieldstudies.wordpress.com/).
This program will take place in the Udzungwa Mountains in Tanzania and is one of the few field schools in Africa to focus explicitly on conservation biology. Please let any potentially interested undergraduate or beginning graduate students know about this opportunity. See the attached flyer for further detail.
Highlights
- The field school will take place in the Udzungwa Mountains, which are home to 13 different species of primate and belong to a Global Biodiversity Hotspot.
- Participants will be able to see the Endangered Sanje mangabey and Endangered Iringa red colobus monkey, both of which are only found in the Udzungwa Mountains. Black-and-white colobus monkey, Sykes monkey, and yellow baboon sightings will also easily be made.
- Housing accommodations will be at the Udzungwa Ecological Monitoring Centre (http://www.udzungwacentre.org/default.asp), which will include beds, running water, and electricity.
- Trips to local community conservation projects managed by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) will be made to see conservation efforts in villages surrounding the forest.
- A trip to Mikumi National Park will be made to see savanna animals (e.g., elephants, giraffes, and lions) and to witness conservation issues in a different habitat.
- A trip to Zanzibar Island, famous for its beaches and historic Stone town, will be made. Jonzani National Park will also be visited to see the Zanzibar red colobus monkey and learn about the challenges in protecting this Endangered primate.
109th Annual Meeting was held in New Orleans, November 17-21, 2010.
The Distinguished Lecture was given by Ken Weiss: “What Darwin got wrong and why it matters.”
The 2010 WW Howells Award winner is Bernard Chapais (University of Montreal) for his book, Primeval Kinship: How Pair-Bonding Gave Birth to Human Society.
List of sessions of interest to BAS members:
- Innovative Methods in Biological Anthropology
- Circulating Through Us: Violence, Trauma and Memory
- Critical Collisions in Health and Culture: Sleep
- Ancient Humans: Birth, Health and Lifestyle
- Biocultural Acts, Biocultural Survival
- Biocultural Adaptation and Evolution: Guts, Diet and Microbes
BAS members are invited to submit pieces to the AAA Writers Circle. As explained in this link, this is a project meant to encourage anthropologists to write op-eds and magazine articles, and to engage in other ways with public media.
This is an opportunity for biological anthropologists to convey the importance of our science to broad audiences. Please feel free to contact Dr. Barbara J. King about this.
2011 APPLICATION NOW OPEN
(Link: www.nsfsi.org )
The National Science Foundation (NSF) East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes for U.S. Graduate Students (EAPSI) is a flagship international fellowship program for developing the next generation of globally engaged U.S. scientists and engineers knowledgeable about the Asian and Pacific regions. The Summer Institutes are hosted by foreign counterparts committed to increasing opportunities for young U.S. researchers to work in research facilities and with host mentors abroad. Fellows are supported to participate in eight-week research experiences at host laboratories in Australia, China, Japan (10 weeks), Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan from June to August. The program provides a $5,000 summer stipend, round-trip airfare to the host location, living expenses abroad, and an introduction to the society, culture, language, and research environment of the host location.
The 2011 application is now open and will close at 5:00 pm local time on November 10, 2010. Application instructions are available online at www.nsfsi.org. For further information concerning benefits, eligibility, and tips on applying, applicants are encouraged to visit www.nsf.gov/eapsi or www.nsfsi.org.
NSF recognizes the importance of enabling U.S. researchers and educators to advance their work through international collaborations and the value of ensuring that future generations of U.S. scientists and engineers gain professional experience beyond this nation’s borders early in their careers. The program is intended for U.S. graduate students pursuing studies in fields supported by the National Science Foundation. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply for the EAPSI. Applicants must be enrolled in a research-oriented master’s or PhD program and be U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents by the application deadline date. Students in combined bachelor/master degree programs must have matriculated from the undergraduate degree program by the application deadline date.
The first Summer Institutes began in Japan in 1990, and to date over 2,000 U.S. graduate students have participated in the program.
Should you have any questions, please contact the EAPSI Help Desk by email at eapsi@nsfsi.org or by phone at 1-866-501-2922.
The National Zoo’s Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute Graduate/Professional Training Courses
Smithsonian-Mason Global Conservation Studies Program, Front Royal, VA
For more information, visit http://conservationtraining.si.edu
or e-mail SCBItraining@si.edu
Conservation Conflict Resolution
January 10-19, 2011
Designed and led by the Human-Wildlife Conflict Collaboration (HWCC), this course teaches proven skills, strategies and processes for effectively addressing conservation-related conflict. By analyzing conflicts to determine root causes and facilitate appropriate resolution processes, we foster trust among stakeholders and ensure sustainable solutions.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/MAB/GMU/consconflict.cfm
Statistics for Ecology and Conservation Biology
February 7-18, 2011
Gain in-depth knowledge of analysis techniques for cutting-edge ecological research, employing R, including: classical regression models; mixed models; generalized linear models; generalized additive models; and conservation-specific approaches, e.g. distance sampling and species distribution modeling. The course emphasizes real-world analysis and how to deal with the limitations of real datasets.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/MAB/GMU/statsecology.cfm
Spatial Ecology, Geospatial Analysis & Remote Sensing
March 14-25, 2011
Learn to use GIS tools to address conservation research problems, quantifying effects of human-induced global change on wildlife and biodiversity. Hands-on lab exercises (e.g. land cover mapping; home range analysis; modeling habitat selection; mapping species distributions) use remote sensing data and SCBI field surveys to monitor global changes, assess impacts on wildlife, and develop mitigating strategies.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/MAB/GMU/spatial.cfm
Species Monitoring & Conservation: Terrestrial Mammals
April 18-29, 2011
Explore current techniques in assessment and monitoring of wild mammal populations, including bats. Participants learn principles of study design; current field assessment methods; data analysis techniques including MARK and DISTANCE software; application of monitoring data to decision-making and population management; and collection and preparation of museum voucher specimens.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/MAB/GMU/terremammals.cfm
Effective Conservation Leadership
May 3-13, 2011
What makes for a successful conservation leader? Conservation professionals need to know more than science to lead effectively. Employing real-life environmental and conservation case studies, this course addresses key conservation leadership skills, including cross-cultural learning, team-building and support, project management, applied conservation ethics, effective communication, and conflict resolution.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/MAB/GMU/leadership.cfm
For information on the Applied Conservation Science Graduate Certificate see:
Smithsonian-Mason Global Conservation Studies Program course participants engage in dynamic learning communities, build lifelong professional networks, and connect with valuable conservation resources
Ometepe Island, Nicaragua
December 28, 2010-January 8, 2011
This two week course is on the anatomy of human and non-human skeletons, including monkeys, other mammals, birds, and reptiles. Hands-on modules and island activities (e.g., observing wild monkeys, horseback riding, kayaking) will allow students to observe the relationship between skeletal structure, behavior such as diet and locomotion, and the animal’s environment. Comparative skeletal anatomy has applications in veterinary medicine, bioarchaeology, paleoanthropology, forensic anthropology, primatology, and functional anatomy. Apply through the Maderas Rainforest Conservancy. Contact Dr. Helen Cho at Davidson College for more information and syllabus hecho@davidson.edu or (704) 894-2299. See flyer.
The 2009 W.W. Howells Book Award winners are Alan Walker and Pat Shipman for their book, The Ape in the Tree: An Intellectual and Natural History of Proconsul, published by Harvard University Press. From Robert Proctor’s Science book review: “The Ape in the Tree is a fine account of new ways to puzzle out the behaviors of fossilized animals from odd scraps of bones.”
The BAS Student Award Winner for 2009 was Molly Zuckerman for her paper “Making Sex Less Dangerous: Evaluating the Evolution of Virulence in Syphilis.” Honorable mentions went to Matt Nowak for his poster “Group size, social structure, and ranging in lar-gibbons: implications for the ecological constraints model,” and to Carrie Veilleux for her paper “Habitat preference and nocturnal lemur color vision: implications for primate and human evolution.”
The 2009 Distinguished Lecture was presented by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy. The title of the lecture was “Darwin and the Ascent of Emotionally Modern Man: How Humans Became such Hypersocial Apes.”
Program Chair Debra Martin, organizes thee BAS sponsored and cosponsored sessions. This year we had 23 volunteered abstracts that came to us for review – almost all of them requested podium except for 3 that preferred being in a poster session. We accepted all of the abstracts, and organized them into 2 thematic session and 1 poster session. Some individuals were asked if they would shift their papers to posters or vice versa, and everyone did agree. The themes/titles for the volunteered paper sessions included “Evolutionary Perspectives on Morphology, the Brain and Tool Use” and “Biocultural Perspectives on Inequality, Health and Diet.” The posters were grouped into two themes, one having to do with forensics and field methods, and one having to do with cooperative breeding. In addition to these volunteered sessions, there was one organized session on “Bioarchaeology of Captivity and Slavery” organized by Debra Martin and Ventura Perez. We used our invited designations for one of the volunteered sessions, the captivity and slavery session and we co-sponsored a session with Medical Anthropology in immigration and health. All BAS sessions were spread out across the days and time slots, and do not seem to conflict with other biological sessions that did not go through BAS (such as the Presidential session on Darwin). In 2008we had a total of 49 papers and posters, and in 2007 a total of 34. The declining numbers of papers/posters is a concern and we will work to increase the number.
The Reception followed the distinguished lecture. I had requested a room for 100 people for the both events. The lecture was schedule for a smaller room (about 75 seats) and was overly full with people sitting on the floor. The room was too small to set up the reception in the back of the room as planned (and discussed with the hotel in at least 3 phone calls). The inadequate space negatively impacted the reception and it did not last as long as usual.