Amy L Rector 's Avatar

Amy L Rector

@alrector.bsky.social

Paleoanthropologist, paleoecologist, Ethiopia, Zambia, VCU, #WomenInSTEM, #AnthropologyAF

940 Followers  |  68 Following  |  9 Posts  |  Joined: 13.09.2023  |  1.9445

Latest posts by alrector.bsky.social on Bluesky


The Late Breaking Science Submission Portal is now open, and 40 abstracts for the poster session will be accepted! Submit your abstracts before February 2nd via your AABA profile. www.xcdsystem.com/aaba/member/...

14.01.2026 17:34 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Square graphic with beige background with circles on it. AABA logo centered at the top. In the middle is a pink-ish square with this text overlain: "Giving Tuesday. Your donation supports: student travel awards, student presentation awards, AABA eat." At the bottom of the graphic is the link to donate: bioanth.org/donate. The graphic displays to hands exchanging a heart in the upper left and in the lower left, a drawing of a loris on a branch.

Square graphic with beige background with circles on it. AABA logo centered at the top. In the middle is a pink-ish square with this text overlain: "Giving Tuesday. Your donation supports: student travel awards, student presentation awards, AABA eat." At the bottom of the graphic is the link to donate: bioanth.org/donate. The graphic displays to hands exchanging a heart in the upper left and in the lower left, a drawing of a loris on a branch.

This #GivingTuesday, support the AABA community fund. Your donation supports student funding awards and other community initiatives. Even a small gift helps! bioanth.org/donate

02.12.2025 16:07 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Here's the GVP page of Hayli Gubbi in Ethiopia: volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?.... Plume from the eruption can be seen in this Aqua/MODIS image cross the Red Sea to the Arabian Peninsula. #eruption #volcano

23.11.2025 18:26 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 98    ๐Ÿ” 36    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
Flyer with blue background and speaker and organizer images in circles: Chris Dudar, Sian Halcrow, Chip Colwell, Celise Fricker-Chilcote, Alyson Caine, Irene Hochgraf-Camerom, Karen Weinstein. AABA logo in top right corner.

Text:
AABA WEBINAR SERIES

TRACING FORGOTTEN HISTORIES:
IDENTIFYING UNPROVENIENCED HUMAN
SKELETAL REMAINS AND ESTABLISHING BEST
PRACTICES FOR THEIR ETHICAL TREATMENT

11 DECEMBER, 2025 AT 12:00 PM EST

Many teaching and museum collections house human remains with little or no provenience, creating major challenges for ethical stewardship. This webinar, inspired by last yearโ€™s AABA workshop, brings together experts who have successfully reconstructed documentation for unprovenienced remains. Panelists will share practical methodsโ€”archival research, handwriting analysis, osteology, taphonomy, and moreโ€”and discuss collaborative strategies for navigating these complex cases. Join us to connect, learn, and build community around this critical work.

Flyer with blue background and speaker and organizer images in circles: Chris Dudar, Sian Halcrow, Chip Colwell, Celise Fricker-Chilcote, Alyson Caine, Irene Hochgraf-Camerom, Karen Weinstein. AABA logo in top right corner. Text: AABA WEBINAR SERIES TRACING FORGOTTEN HISTORIES: IDENTIFYING UNPROVENIENCED HUMAN SKELETAL REMAINS AND ESTABLISHING BEST PRACTICES FOR THEIR ETHICAL TREATMENT 11 DECEMBER, 2025 AT 12:00 PM EST Many teaching and museum collections house human remains with little or no provenience, creating major challenges for ethical stewardship. This webinar, inspired by last yearโ€™s AABA workshop, brings together experts who have successfully reconstructed documentation for unprovenienced remains. Panelists will share practical methodsโ€”archival research, handwriting analysis, osteology, taphonomy, and moreโ€”and discuss collaborative strategies for navigating these complex cases. Join us to connect, learn, and build community around this critical work.

Please join us on December 11 at 12pm EST for the AABA Webinar, "Tracing Forgotten Histories: Identifying Unprovenienced Human Skeletal Remains and Establishing Best Practices for their Ethical Treatment." Registration here: burkinc.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

19.11.2025 20:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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AABA 2026 workshop proposal form There are six pages to this form. On this page, please provide us with your contact information. On the following pages, you will be asked about the budget, sponsorship, description/proposal, particip...

AABA Workshop Proposals are due in two days! Submit your workshop idea by November 15. More info here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

13.11.2025 18:12 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Iโ€™m watching the World Series. Iโ€™m taking part o the Stanford prison experiment. Iโ€™m at the combination World Series/Stanford prison experiment

28.10.2025 05:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3770    ๐Ÿ” 615    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 36    ๐Ÿ“Œ 22
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Excited to have welcomed more than 100 faculty and staff to our AI Teaching Summit in the College of Humanities and Sciences. We are very grateful for the collaboration with AI Ready RVA and the outstanding panel on expectations for college graduates with William Willis, Liz Baker and Caleb Snow.

18.10.2025 00:05 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Herman Pontzer pictured from the shoulders up wearing a black polo shirt and facing the camera, standing in front of blurred out trees

Herman Pontzer pictured from the shoulders up wearing a black polo shirt and facing the camera, standing in front of blurred out trees

Herman Pontzer (Duke U) will deliver the plenary lecture at #AABA2026 on โ€œCalories In, Calories Out: Energy, Ecology, and Evolution in Humans and other Primates.โ€ Be sure to join us!

14.10.2025 15:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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95th Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado (2026) - AABA Our 95th Annual Meeting will take place in Denver, Colorado, from March 18-21, 2026. Students: Donโ€™t miss your opportunity for free registration for the 2026 [โ€ฆ]

โฐ Just two more days to submit your: abstract! Exec Comm nominations! Award nominations! Student presentation award app! All these are due on October 15 for #AABA2026 bioanth.org/95th-annual-...

13.10.2025 14:27 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Unearthing a New Human Ancestor: Dr. Brian Villmoare on the Ledi-Geraru Discovery
YouTube video by World of Paleoanthropology Unearthing a New Human Ancestor: Dr. Brian Villmoare on the Ledi-Geraru Discovery

Unearthing a New Human Ancestor: Dr. Brian Villmoare on the Ledi-Geraru Discovery
youtu.be/ex6kMP-wsjI

04.10.2025 07:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Biological Anthropologists! The AABA (US) IDEAS Program is welcoming applications for BOTH Student Scholars and Faculty Scholars.

The Faculty Scholar deadline is October 15th, and the Student Scholar deadline is October 31st. Please share this call widely!

Flyers for each, below:

01.10.2025 02:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 7    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Aanthropologists are facing unprecedented obstacles. Join Danilyn Rutherford, the President of Wenner-Gren, along with Foundation Anthropologists Dr. Brendane Tynes and Michael Muse, for a discussion of how Wenner-Gren is responding. wennergren.org/workshop/pro...

17.09.2025 21:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 11    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Call for Executive Committee Nominations (Deadline: October 15, 2025) - AABA Executive Committee Positions:ย The Executive Committee manages the affairs of the association. The committee meets in person once a year, immediately before the Annual Meeting,ย and virtually [โ€ฆ]

Interested in becoming more involved in AABA? The deadline for nominations for President-Elect, Vice President, and Secretary are due October 15! bioanth.org/95th-annual-...

16.09.2025 15:50 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 5    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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AABA 2026 Denver, CO Meeting Swag | Bonfire Buy AABA 2026 Denver, CO Meeting Swag merchandise that supports American Association Of Physical Anthropologists. Featuring Heather Carolina Blue Premium Unisex Tees, professionally printed in the USA...

Do you want to support students attending #AABA2026? Get your #AABA2026 t-shirt or hoodie! Proceeds will fund our various student programs
www.bonfire.com/sales-will-s...

15.09.2025 22:54 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 5    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

๐Ÿ“ฃ The abstract portal for #AABA2026 in Denver is open! Please read the abstract guidelines carefully before submitting your abstract. Submissions are due by October 15, 2025. bioanth.org/95th-annual-...

15.09.2025 21:35 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Student Presentation Awards - AABA The AABA has long recognized the important contributions made to our discipline by students. Their work reflects the promise and future of our field. Conferring [โ€ฆ]

๐Ÿ“Œ Students attending #AABA2026: we've made some changes to simplify the submission process for Student Presentation Awards. Your award application is now due October 15, 2025, the same day as abstracts are due.
๐Ÿ“– Read about it here: bioanth.org/about/studen...

15.09.2025 21:38 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 5    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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AABA 2026 Denver, CO Meeting Swag | Bonfire Buy AABA 2026 Denver, CO Meeting Swag merchandise that supports American Association Of Physical Anthropologists. Featuring Heather Carolina Blue Premium Unisex Tees, professionally printed in the USA...

Time to get your #AABA2026 swag!! Wearing a t-shirt makes abstract submission 100x faster, so order one today! Also, you need the hat and bag for your weekend errands! And there's never been a cozier sweatshirt for putting the finishing touches on that manuscript!! @bioanth.org

12.09.2025 18:35 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The 2026 AABA IDEAS Faculty Scholars Program is now accepting applications. More information here:
bioanth.org/news/the-202... and apply by October 15 #AABA2026

12.09.2025 17:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Two types of ancient human ancestors coexisted more than 2 million years ago, fossils show | CNN Fossilized teeth show that two different kinds of ancient human ancestors coexisted more than 2 million years ago. One of them may be an unknown species.

Pretty entertained that this out-of-focus picture taken on my phone by our colleague and co-author Omar Abdullah on the day of discovery is such a striking image for our new study out in Nature this week.

16.08.2025 20:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Scientists uncover new fossilsโ€”and a new species of ancient human ancestor A team of international scientists has discovered new fossils at a field site in Africa that indicate Australopithecus, and the oldest specimens of Homo, coexisted at the same place in Africa at the s...

This is super cool. New paper: "New discoveries of Australopithecus and Homo from Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia," phys.org/news/2025-08... ๐Ÿงช๐Ÿบ

13.08.2025 15:06 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 22    ๐Ÿ” 9    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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New discoveries of #Australopithecus and #Homo from #Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia

๐Ÿ”— www.nature.com/articles/s41...

13.08.2025 15:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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After a decade of research the scientists describe the age, geological context, and dental morphology of new hominin fossils found in the Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia.
They report the presence of Homo at 2.78 and 2.59 million years ago and Australopithecus at 2.63 million years ago.

@nature.com

13.08.2025 16:05 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Fossil teeth reveal a previously unknown human ancestor from eastern Africa Scientists say the teeth belonged to a type of Australopithecus, a relative of Lucyโ€™s species, that coexisted with our genus, Homo

Wrote this out today: Fossil teeth reveal a previously unknown human ancestor from eastern Africa | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

13.08.2025 17:20 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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New discoveries of Australopithecus and Homo from Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia - Nature Hominin fossils from the Ledi-Geraru Research Project area, Ethiopia, suggest that early Homo and Australopithecus species co-existed in the region more than 2.5 million years ago.

Lets go??? New Australopith contemporaneous with Homo at Ledi-Geraru that IS NOT Au. afarensis or Au. garhi?? (Probably)

Vid soon!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

13.08.2025 16:58 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 119    ๐Ÿ” 16    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
The Wall Street Journal tweets: "Evidence suggests early humans used primitive sunscreen and wore tailored clothingโ€”possibly contributing to their survival as Neanderthals went extinct." There is then a link to a story.

The Wall Street Journal tweets: "Evidence suggests early humans used primitive sunscreen and wore tailored clothingโ€”possibly contributing to their survival as Neanderthals went extinct." There is then a link to a story.

that's right

06.08.2025 20:23 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6842    ๐Ÿ” 413    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 180    ๐Ÿ“Œ 57

Two more weeks to submit your invited symposium proposal! #AABA2026

02.08.2025 00:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I've been happy with a GardePro 6 to capture baby foxes in the yard

19.07.2025 20:42 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Yes!! I am so glad you caught that!!

17.07.2025 02:46 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Listen. I spent some TIME on these meeting images and graphics and I am quite proud of how they turned out. So submit a symposium proposal for #AABA2026 today!

17.07.2025 02:42 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The deadline for submitting Invited Symposium proposals is August 15, 2025. - AABA Be sure to read the instructions below. Have all materials ready to enter prior to starting the submission process as you cannot save a draft [โ€ฆ]

Have an idea for an #AABA2026 symposium? The submission portal is OPEN! Check out the guidelines and submit your proposal by August 15 bioanth.org/95th-annual-...

16.07.2025 23:49 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

@alrector is following 20 prominent accounts