Physical Anthropology Undergraduate Opportunities

The American Association of Physical Anthropologists will be holding our annual meeting in Portland, Oregon, from April 11-14th, 2012.  This, to me, is one of the most exciting times of the year, but I am biased. 

The AAPA is making me proud with two opportunities for undergraduate students this year.

AAPA Undergraduate Research Symposium

On the first day of the conference, Wednesday, April 11th, at 6:00, the 2nd Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium will be held.  Abstracts are now being solicited, and are due to Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler at cwallsch@spu.edu no later than February 1, 2012. Any abstract with an undergraduate as the first author is welcome. 

William S. Pollitzer Student Travel Award

The AAPA is offering a travel award of $500 to any undergraduate or graduate student AAPA member to attend the meeting (presentation is NOT required). Students are required to write an essay that answers the question: What important article is missing from the current literature in biological anthropology? Give the title and what you think its impact/benefit would be. 

Essay details:

• No more than 750 words, not including references (this is a strict guideline).
• Due by January 20th, 2012 to Dr. Agustin Fuentes at afuentes@nd.edu by January 20th, 2012.
• Must be sent as a Word file.

Essays will be evaluated by the AAPA student prize committee with an identification number to mast authors' identities. The average scores from all judges will be used as the basis for deciding the winners of the award, with the AAPA Executive Board giving final approval of the committee’s recommendation. The scoring criteria are:

1. Clarity and focus. 45 points possible

2. Originality of thought and insight. 45 points possible

3. Grammar and spelling. 10 points possible

Website: www.bonesandbehavior.org/aapa2012/