AABA Task Force for the Ethical Study of Human Remains
The AABA Task Force for the Ethical Study of Human Remains, chaired by Drs. Fatimah Jackson and Ben Auerbach, focused on developing a roadmap for determining what constitutes ethical study and disposition of human remains and biological samples with consent when research is warranted. This roadmap was based on the desires and attitudes of descendant communities and feedback from members of the AABA. The Task Force released a preliminary report in 2024 with an overview of survey results from a survey focusing on how members of the AABA work with human remains. Survey data were collected in March 2022 during the AABA conference.
The Task Force has completed its work and published its recommendations for the biological anthropology community in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology in 2026. In addition to the published recommendations, Drs. Jackson and Auerbach published a Commentary introducing the recommendations. Both publications are open access and are linked below.
AABA Task Force on the Ethical Study of Human Remains Recommendations: Proposal for the Management and Oversight of Community Partnership and Ethical Stewardship of Human Remains
Commentary: “Who Speaks for the Dead? Of Communities and Stewardship in Legacy Collections of Human Remains“
Additional resources:
Recording of the AABA Webinar by the Task Force for the Ethical Study of Human Remains
People
Benjamin Auerbach
Fatimah Jackson
Shamsi Daneshvari Berry
Michael Blakey
Jennifer Caldwell
Carter Clinton
Joseph Graves, Jr.
Joseph Jones
Ellen Lofaro
Ripan Malhi
Carmen Mosley
Phoebe Stubblefield