Report from the Presidents

Dear EAS Members,

We hope that you all enjoyed the AAA/CAA meeting in Vancouver as much as we did. We had another round of stimulating EAS sessions and an exciting business meeting (secret votes!) discussing the future of EAS (more on that below).

We’d like to start by announcing the winners of the EAS New Investigator and Student awards at the conference. Co-winners for the student award were Adam Reynolds (University of New Mexico) and Curtis Atkisson (UC Davis), and co-winners for the New Investigator prize were Katie Starkweather (University of New Mexico) and Melanie Martin (University of Washington). Congratulations!

Our new board is now in place with Karen Kramer beginning her role as President-Elect, Alyssa Crittenden and Jeremy Koster joining as members-at-large, and Adam Reynolds as the new student rep. We have also appointed Drew Gerkey to serve as Treasurer, taking over for Dawn Neill. Thanks to Dawn for her many years of service. Newsletter editors Melanie Martin and Katie Starkweather are also stepping down and we are looking for some interested parties to take over. This is a great chance for one or two senior graduate students or early-career people to take on a more active role in EAS. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact us.

Finally, the focus of our board and business meetings this year was once again on the future of EAS. Following a series of meetings that Mary and Brooke had with presidents and other representatives at AAPA, HBA, HBES and AAA, we presented a slate of options to the board for discussion. Upon careful consideration, the board proposed a hybrid model that would allow us to pilot a move to either AAPA (soon AABA) or HBA, while still maintaining our presence at AAA until a final decision is made. At the business meeting, straw polls were held that endorsed this hybrid model and pointed to AAPA as the primary organization to work with on piloting a move. We will now move forward with setting this plan into action, with more details forthcoming over the next year. Here are the first two things to keep on your radar, however: First, EAS will be meeting as usual at the AAA meetings in St. Louis in November 2020, so get ready to submit your abstracts and session proposals in March/April. Second, in an effort to kick off this new era in EAS’s history we will be hosting an informal event for current and potential future EAS members at the AAPA/HBA meetings in Los Angeles in April 2020, so stay tuned for details in upcoming newsletters.

Sincerely,

Brooke Scelza (President) Karen Kramer (President-Elect)

Recruitment

The psychology department at the University of New Mexico is hiring a tenure-track assistant professor in evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary anthropologists are welcome to apply.

Field course opportunity in Costa Rica with the association for Conservation of the tropics (DANTA).

The University of Alabama is accepting applications for an associate or full professor of medical or psychological anthropology.

Elspeth Ready is looking for a postdoc at the Max Plank Institute for a project looking to identify cultural factors that promote Inuit food security and well-being in Nunavik, Canada.

Looking for nominations or volunteers for 2 people to take over co-editing the EAS section of Anthropology News. Editors should be Ph.D. Candidates (ABD) or postdocs. The term is effective as of this year’s AAA meetings in Vancouver. Please contact Melanie Martin (martinm7@uw.edu) if you are interested or know someone who might be.

Recent Member Publications

Crucial Contributions: A Biocultural Study of Grandmothering During the Perinatal Period By: Brooke Scelza and Katie Hinde

Who teaches children to forage? Exploring the primacy of child-to-child teaching among Hadza and BaYaka Hunter-Gatherers of Tanzania and Congo By: Sheina Lew-Levy, Adam Howell Boyette, and Alyssa Crittenden.

Niche diversity can explain cross-cultural differences in personality structure By: Paul E. Smaldino, Aaron Lukaszweski, Christopher von Rueden, and Michael Gurven

The formal demography of kinship: A matrix formulation model By: Hal Caswell

Old friends and friendly fire: Pregnancy, hookworm infection, and anemia among tropical horticulturalists By: Amy Anderson, Benjamin C. Trumble, Carmen Hové, Thomas S. Kraft, Hillard Kaplan, Michael Gurven and Aaron D. Blackwell

Paternity confidence and social obligations explain men’s allocations to romantic partners in an experimental giving game By: Brooke Scelza, Sean Prall, and Kathrine Starkweather

Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology A Teaching Resource by Society for Anthropology in Community Colleges

Press Release on Gendered-Play in H-G Community By Sheina Lew-Levy and Adam Howell Boyette

Life & Career of Frank Marlowe By: Brian Wood, Michael Gurven, and Julia Marlowe