Yay me! 2011 AAA Leadership Fellow

I am very pleased to announce to the BANDIT readership that I have been selected as one of two Leadership Fellows by the American Anthropological Association for 2011. Professor Heide Castañeda of University of South Florida is the other Fellow. Dr. Castañeda and I will be matched with more established anthropologists who are involved in AAA governance; we will learn what goes into planning and executing the annual meeting and how the association works behind the scenes. It's a fantastic opportunity and I am very grateful to the AAA officers for selecting me. I also have the BANDIT community to thank because I think our dialogue here on the blog and especially the passionate conversation here and elsewhere online regarding the AAA Long Range Plan and attendant philosophical debates played an important role in my being selected. Thank you, and I will share as much of my fellowship experience with you as I can. See you in Montreal!

AAA Leadership Mentoring Award Program

The American Anthropological Association is pleased to announce the annual AAA Leadership Mentoring Award Program. The purpose of this mentorship/award program is to provide a unique opportunity for anthropologists early in their careers to learn about AAA and leadership opportunities and to encourage future leadership in the association. Anthropologists three to five years beyond completion of their terminal graduate degree are encouraged to apply. Each year a group of three to five awardees (mentees) will be paired with a mentor chosen from among AAA leadership. Mentors will be available to mentees throughout the year to answer questions related to AAA. Mentees will shadow mentors at the AAA Annual Meeting where there will also be a lunch scheduled for all mentors and mentees to share their experiences in the program.

University of Chicago Seminar

****RESCHEDULED TO FEBRUARY 16th*****

Hey Chicago people, I will be giving a seminar next week to the University of Chicago Animal Behavior Group. If you're in the area and want to learn about litter size and life history in marmoset monkeys, please check it out!

Wednesday, February 16th at 12:00 pm
Room 122, Biopsychological Science Building
940 E. 57th Street

Bigger isn't always better: Effect of birth condition on reproductive outcomes in female marmoset monkeys

Life history theory predicts that early life conditions that reflect metabolic or environmental stress may accelerate life histories. Birth weight is traditionally the most common proxy measure of the quality of the intrauterine environment and it is linked to postnatal and adult outcomes in many species. However, birth weight alone does not reflect the entirety of these intrauterine processes. Litter size is another source of variation in the quality of the prenatal environment. In this talk, I report findings from a captive marmoset monkey colony suggesting that litter size at birth is an independent predictor of accelerated life history parameters as well as reduced fecundity. Triplets are born at significantly lower birth weights than twins and have higher perinatal mortality risks, but exhibit trends toward greater postnatal growth rates and higher early adult ages, especially among triplets born at the lowest weights. Further, although twins and triplets don’t differ in the total number of offspring they produce over their reproductive tenure, mothers who themselves were born into triplet litters produced over twice as many stillbirths as did twins. The mechanisms underlying this high proportion of stillbirths are unknown but could be related to developmental constraints on the viability of the ovarian follicle pool or size and function of the uterus, constraints that are separate from limits on overall somatic growth. These findings suggest that early life processes separate from birth weight have a significant impact on adult reproductive function with important implications for demographic composition and life history evolution.

I have a book chapter in print!

I mentioned in a previous post that I had a book chapter in press but I'm very happy to say the book - Hormones and Reproduction of Vertebrates - Vol 5: Mammals - is now published and available directly from the publisher (Elsevier) as well as Amazon. In addition to throwing myself and my co-authors Wendy Saltzman and Suzette Tardif a little shout out (check out lucky 13 below!), I think the series, and this volume in particular, might be of interest to several BANDITs who explore comparative aspects of reproductive endocrinology in their work.

Contents

1. Sexual Differentiation of the Mammalian Brain

Desiree L. Krebs-Kraft and Margaret M. Mc McCarthy


2. Neuroendocrine Control of Gonadotropins in Mammals

Toni R. Pak and Wilson C.J. Chung


3. Endocrine and Paracrine Regulation of Mammalian Spermatogenesis

Zirkin, B.R., Brown, T.R., Jarow, J.P. and Wright, W.W.


4. Hormonal Regulation of the Ovary in Mammals


5. Hormones and Pregnancy in Eutherian Mammals

Fuller W. Bazer and Thomas E. Spencer


6. The Comparative Physiology of Parturition in Mammals: Hormones and Parturition in Mammals

Ross Young, Marilyn B Renfree, Sam Mesiano, Geoff Shaw, Graham Jenkin and Roger Smith


7. Stress and Reproduction in Mammals

Lynda Uphouse


8. Behavioral Neuroendocrinology of Reproduction: Mammals

Jin Ho Park and Emilie F. Rissman


9. Pheromones and Reproduction in Mammals

Aras Petrulis


10. Hormones and Reproductive Cycles in Prototherians and Metatherians

Bronwyn M. McAllan


11. Hormones and reproductive cycles in rodents

Karen L. Bales and Caroline M. Hostetler


12. Hormones and Reproductive Cycles in Bats

Amitabh Krishna and Kunwar P. Bhatnagar


13. Hormones and Reproductive Cycles in Primates

Wendy Saltzman, Suzette D. Tardif, and Julienne N. Rutherford


14. Endocrine Disruption of Reproduction in Mammals

Katherine E. Pelch, Joseph M. Beeman, Bridget A. Niebruegge, Stacey R. Winkeler, and

Susan C. Nagel

BANDITs in American Anthropologist!

This month's issue of American Anthropologist features articles by two BANDIT members. Starting in 2008, American Anthropologist started to devote part of its June issue to the Year in Review in Anthropology, with essays representing five subdisciplines: biological, sociocultural, linguistic, archaeological, and public anthropology. This year, I wrote the annual review of biological anthropology. Many of you might remember my Facebook poll - thanks for your participation and check out my article for the results.

In the same issue, Robin Nelson, first-year assistant professor of anthropology at University of California Riverside, offers a review and critique of John Hawks' very popular anthropology blog.

I am also kind of awesome (a preview)

Since this is my blog, I thought I'd share a fabulous little something about myself. I just got an email today that the book in which I have a chapter will be coming out...in September!! The chapter, Reproductive Cycles in Primates, is co-authored with Wendy Saltzmann and Suzette Tardif, and will appear in Hormones and Reproduction in Vertebrates, Volume 5: Mammals. There are four other volumes: Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles, and Birds. This will be an exciting and impressive collection, and I am kinda geeked out to be part of it. Many thanks to Wendy and Suzette for their kind invitation to participate. I will keep you posted on the actual release date.

Put this in my good news folder!

My paper on waist circumference and C-reactive protein is in print in the pages of the American Journal of Human Biology.

Change in Waist Circumference Over 11 Years and Current Waist
Circumference Independently Predict Elevated CRP in Filipino Women