AABA 2023 Workshops and Training Opportunities

We have an exciting lineup of workshops, discussions, and training opportunities at #AABA2023! Most of these workshops will take place in person only at the conference in Reno. Four of these workshops will also accommodate virtual conference attendees (note that you must be registered for the conference to attend virtually).

Workshop locations are listed in the app and in the program.

Some of the workshops require preregistration. Preregistration is now closed.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19


SlicerMorph: an open-source toolkit for 3D imaging and morphometric analysis

Wednesday, April 19, 1:00-5:00pm

Organizers: Chi Zhang (Seattle Children’s Research Institute) and A. Murat Maga (University of Washington & Seattle Children’s Research Institute)

This workshop is designed to introduce SlicerMorph, offer a 3D digital morphology workflow, and support geometric morphometrics data collection from 3D models. Registration required. Maximum participants: 40. In-person registration full; workshop will be livestreamed.


Introduction to Ancient DNA Analysis

Wednesday, April 19, 1:00-5:00pm

Organizers: Elena I. Zavala (University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University), Ainash Childebayeva (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, and University of Kansas), Laurits Skov (University of California, Berkeley)

This workshop will introduce both the laboratory and bioinformatic steps and considerations for ancient DNA analysis. This workshop will also be available to virtual conference attendees. Registration required. Maximum participants: 30 in-person. In-person registration full; workshop will be livestreamed.


Up Goer Five: Using Simple Language to Communicate Your Research to the Public

Wednesday, April 19, 1:00-4:00pm

Organizers: C. Kinley Russell (The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) and Briana Pobiner (Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History)

Improve your science communication with broad audiences and increase the impact of your work by describing complex research in simple language. Registration required. Maximum participants: 40


COD-Women’s Initiative (COD-WIN) Panel: Experiencing and negotiating the dynamics of power: beginning the conversation

Wednesday, April 19, 2:30-5:00pm

Organizers: Anne Stone (Arizona State University) & Michelle Bezanson (Santa Clara University)

A community conversation about experiences surrounding power dynamics, including roundtable discussion about recognizing power imbalances and strategies for addressing them. This workshop will also be available to virtual conference attendees. Registration required.


THURSDAY, APRIL 20


Primate Interest Group Workshop

Thursday, April 20, 12:15-2:15pm

Organizers: Lydia E. O. Light (University of North Carolina at Charlotte), Michelle Rodrigues (Marquette University), and Andrew Halloran (Save the Chimps)

The Primate Interest Group Workshop will bring together anthropological primatologists to discuss non-academic professional primatology opportunities available and the future direction of the interest group. Registration not required.


Social Network Analysis in R for Biological Anthropologists

Thursday, April 20, 12:15-2:15pm

Organizer: James Holland Jones (Stanford University)

Social network analysis and graph visualization in R of data gathered in anthropological contexts. Registration required. Maximum participants: 30 Registration full.


AABA Professional Development Committee Workshop: Let’s Get Funded! Strategies for Writing Successful Grant Proposals

Thursday, April 20, 12:15-2:15pm

Organizer: Lauren Schroeder (AABA Professional Development Committee Chair)

What are the key elements for writing a winning proposal? What are the most common pitfalls? What are reviewers looking for? How do you meaningfully engage with the broader impacts of your proposed research? Join us for an insightful panel discussion and Q&A with representatives from the PAST, Wenner-Gren Foundation, National Science Foundation, and the Leakey Foundation. This workshop will also be available to virtual conference attendees. Registration not required. Workshop will be livestreamed.


Improv for Anthropologists: Boosting creativity, confidence, and collaboration for teachers, researchers, and public outreach through improvisational training

Thursday, April 20, 6:00-8:00pm

Organizers: Amanda L. Ellwanger (Georgia State University), Marc Kissel (Appalachian State University), and Natalia Reagan

Participants will engage in a 2-hour improvisational theater workshop conducted by Reno Improv to foster creativity, confidence, and collaboration for teaching, research, and public outreach. Registration required. Maximum participants: 27. Registration full.


FRIDAY, APRIL 21


Training for Equitable Peer Review in Biological Anthropology

Friday, April 21, 12:15-2:15pm

Organizers: Trudy Turner (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and Sheela Athreya (Texas A&M University)

Understand the mechanisms of the peer review process. Presented by editors of the AJBA and the Yearbook. This workshop will also be available to virtual conference attendees. Registration required. Maximum participants: 30


Identifying and Recording Periosteal New Bone Formation (PNBF) in Fetal-Infant Individuals

Friday, April 21, 12:15-1:45pm

Organizer: Claire Hodson (University of Reading)

Participants will explore, utilise, and evaluate a new recording scheme for periosteal new bone formation, developed by the workshop organiser, using osteological and radiological images. Registration required. Maximum participants: 100


Leadership in a liminal space: chairing departments during times of uncertainty

Friday, April 21, 12:15-2:15pm

Organizer: Amy Rector (Virginia Commonwealth University)

All current, former, and future leaders of anthropology and related departments are welcome to join this conversation about responding to declining enrollments by anthropology students. Registration required. Maximum participants: 30


SATURDAY, APRIL 22


COD Disability workshop: Dialogues and Pathways Towards a more Accessible Biological Anthropology

Saturday, April 22, 10:00am-12:00pm

Organizers: Katherine Kinkopf (Cal Poly Pomona) & Saige Kelmelis (University of South Dakota)

In this solutions-oriented conversation, we will discuss what accessibility challenges exist in biological anthropology and share tools for how to best address these challenges. Registration not required