We hit our final-final day for this campaign and wish to share a photo from our students trip to the AES-ALLA-ABA conference in St. Louis. Featured here are Aaliyah Shivers, Tiffinie Snowden and Alexandria Boykins with Dr. Lee Baker from Duke University. Aaliyah shared on behalf of the group: "Attending the AES conference in. St. Louis was a great experience. We had the opportunity to network and meet influential anthropologists, like Dr. Lee Baker.  We look forward to attending other conferences in the future, and meeting other members of Association of Black Anthropologists."  

On behalf of this group of students and future cohorts, we thank you for helping to support student conference participation! 

Ryan Kilfoil is a second-year anthropology graduate student, from Springs, New York. He earned his BA in Anthropology and Political Science. His research interests include global and local chains of food production, what we mean by “sustainable,” and how we define places with each other. He presented on preliminary fieldwork—undertaken in the program—of how tourism-driven gentrification threatens local fishing livelihoods in New York, and how new people become part of that community. Ryan was excited to be able to attend this year’s conference in Portland. The conference offered a space for reuniting with other members of the University of Memphis family, the Department of anthropology alumni and former faculty, as well as meeting new people with similar research interests for future collaboration. Ryan enjoys the films of Hayao Miyazaki, reading Elena Ferrante, and not understanding contemporary popular culture. Thank you for helping us support our scholars!

Johnda Washington is senior at the University of Memphis studying Anthropology and English. She has an interest in medical anthropology and is currently writing an undergraduate thesis on "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in rural South Africa". She also serves as the President of the University of Memphis Anthropology Club. At the SfAAs, Johnda was on a panel discussing reproductive health in addition to presenting a group poster on "Cultural Conservation in Utila, Honduras". When she is not busy researching you can find her traveling, hiking, or indulging in a  sci-fi binge-- Doctor Who and Star Trek especially! Thank you so much for supporting our scholars!

Rebecca Johnson: “I am a third year student, pursuing my both my Master of Art in Anthropology with an Applied Medical concentration and my Master of Public Health with a Social Behavioral Health concentration. I will be graduating with both degrees this May! This was my second time attending the Society for Applied Anthropology conference. This year I presented my research "Maternal Care: Perceptions and Experiences in Shelby County, Tennessee" as well as participating on a panel entitled "Sailing the Turbulent Seas of Reproductive Health: Learning, Doing, and Applying Anthropology in Local and Global Contexts." Previously, I attended the SfAAs in 2017 and presented "A Step Toward Understanding Women's Contraceptive Choices." I would not have been able to attend in neither 2017 nor 2019 if not for the generous funding from our donors. I especially enjoyed the numerous networking opportunities the conference provided as graduation is on the horizon!”

Thank you for helping us support our scholars!

Rachel Starks is a second year anthropology graduate student from Memphis, Tennessee. She received her BA in Anthropology, and minor in Biology, at the University of Memphis in 2017. Her current research focuses on environmental justice, experiences of “energy burden”, and the politics of climate mitigation efforts.This was her first time attending the SfAA’s. She presented a poster on a collaborative, community-led digital oral history project between the University of Memphis and NGO conservations on the Honduran Island of Utila. Thank you for helping us support our scholars!