Minutes of the Business Meeting of the American Association of Anthropological Genetics

20 April 2017 New Orleans, Louisiana

The meeting was held on Thursday, 20 April, at the New Orleans Marriot in Studio 4/5. The meeting was called to order at 7:08 pm by President Omer Gokcumen. Dr. Gokcumen commended the large attendance at the business meeting, as well as the growth in genetics presentations in the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA) meetings more generally. He noted further the importance of the work AAAG is doing in improving students’ career prospects. At the beginning of his term, Dr. Gokcumen’s goal was to grow membership by 20%, and this goal was reached thanks to continued and expanded work from the Outreach Committee. In particular, Dr. Gokcumen highlighted the new website and tremendous growth in Twitter presence, which positions the AAAG as a modern, highly connected association. New members are also recruited via our excellent education activities, including the session held on Wednesday focused on data management in anthropological genetics.

Vice President’s Report

Vice President Connie Mulligan spoke about the AAAG/AAPA symposium session that she organized on collaborative and transdisciplinary research. The session featured speakers from a broad range of fields—historians, psychologists, cultural anthropologists, human geneticists, and more—all looking to improve their research by applying interdisciplinary approaches. Dr. Mulligan noted that if you are interested in humans, you are probably interested in complicated questions, and the best way to answer those questions is interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. Such research can be frustrating but is eye-opening, and she hopes that sharing her own experiences will foster more collaborative research and break down barriers.

Secretary-Treasurer’s Report

Secretary-Treasurer Ellen Quillen asked the membership to consider the minutes of the 2016 business meeting and the 2016 treasurer’s report, which were distributed via e-mail prior to the meeting and in hard copy. M. Geoffrey Hayes motioned to approve the minutes, Dr. Gokcumen seconded, and the minutes were approved via a voice vote with no opposition. Similarly, Moses Schanfield motioned to approve the treasurer’s report, Dr. Mulligan seconded, and the treasurer’s report was approved via a voice vote with no opposition. Dr. Quillen noted that membership has grown relative to the same point in 2016, but there are high levels of turnover with individuals failing to renew. She noted that dues are the only source of income for AAAG and support networking events, student prizes, and travel awards.

Education Committee Report

Education Committee Chair Heather Norton reported on the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) satellite meeting on the “Genetics and Evolution of Admixed Populations” held 18–20 May 2016 at Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio. The goal of the meeting was to foster discussion/collaboration among researchers working on hybridization and admixture. Sessions—including invited and contributed talks, posters, and a panel discussion on ethics—were diverse, focusing on human as well as nonhuman research. There were 68 attendees hailing from 13 countries. To encourage broader representation, abstracts were blind reviewed, resulting in 48% of speakers being female (compared to 52% of attendees) and 41% from underrepresented groups. Half of all invited speakers (one per session) and 60% of participants were students or postdocs. The meeting was supported by a $26,000 grant from the SMBE with coordination and logistical support provided by the AAAG and institutional support from Texas Biomedical Research Institute. Ten student travel awards were provided through the SMBE grant, and AAAG additionally awarded funds to two students from underrepresented groups as part of the Underrepresented Student Travel Award initiated by Past President Abigail Bigham. The organizing committee was composed of Anne Stone, Amy Goldberg, Heather Norton, Ellen Quillen, and Joanna Malukiewicz. The 2017 AAPA Education Workshop “Managing Large Datasets: How to Store (and Share) Your Data Safely and Securely” was held on the Wednesday prior to the AAPA meeting. Dean Bobo, Heather Norton, and Rebecca Ferrell presented. Joanna Malukiewicz will be taking over as Education Chair.

Outreach Committee Report

Outreach Committee Chair Meagan Rubel thanked the members of the Outreach Committee for their work during her first year as chair. In...