For this blog, I chose to focus on the biological subfield of paleoanthropology because I personally very much enjoy learning about the studies fossil remains and the ways they can provide insight to the evolution of the human form and reconstruct behavior. I explored the professional website of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, the world’s leading professional organization for physical anthropologists who deal with the adaptations, variability, and evolution of human beings and their living and fossil relatives. The American Journal of Physical Anthropology is the official journal of the AAPA, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018. This journal prints over a hundred original scientific papers each year, as well as the abstracts and proceedings from the AAPA’s annual meetings and other official documents and notices. The Yearbook of Physical Anthropology is an annual journal of review articles that summarize and evaluate recent literature in topics of current interest to biological anthropologists.

Besides their publications, the website of the AAPA also includes a “News” tab in which can keep members of the organization updated with offered classes, such as “3D Geometric Morphometrics” and “Anatomical Network Analysis” to keep professionals and students updated in technology and tools currently being used to find further data and evidence. This helpful tab also involves members to be able to understand what this organization is actively working on and teaching others about out in the fields through “Field School” articles. One article in particular published in March shares one project in particular of NOMAD Science (Northern Mongolia Adventure and Discovery in Science) which is a research program seeking to use scientific inquiry to explore the natural and cultural resources of northern Mongolia through research and conservation efforts. This specific project focuses on several important issues involving networks of trade and exchange and how this could negatively affect the population, in addition to seeking to generally clarify life under the Mongol Empire through the application of biomolecular methods including stable isotope analyses, investigations of ancient proteins in dental calculus, and ancient DNA of pathogens. These methods will eventually be able to bring understanding of how these communities engaged with the Empire and how this impacted their lifeways. Their aim is to understand these populations in terms of their biomolecular history at the intersection of diet, cuisine, and disease. It has also become apparent that illegal looting of ancient burial sites has become a large problem in Northern Mongolia. This problem concerned archaeologists because looting permanently destroys our ability to continue answering research questions for the benefit of humankind. Because of this expressed concern, Mongolia has created strong anti-looting laws supporting cultural heritage preservation. The AAPA supports this project and shares awareness for these issues that negatively affect research and even prevents it from being continued and done correctly.

This organization also provides many avenues for students interested in pursuing a career in Physical Anthropology so that they may receive as much education and guidance to be successful and helpful in research. The AAPA funds multiple programs such as the Committee on Diversity IDEAS Program, which is a mentoring workshop for undergraduate and graduate students at the AAPA meetings, networking events, and a virtual mentoring network throughout the year, an opportunity students may not have anywhere else where their traveling is funded for.