On April 24, 2020 I participated in the first Decolonize DNA Twitter conference . This conference was created and organized by Krystal Tsosie as an online space to hold conversations about the social implications of genetics research. From the conference website (https://decolonize-dna.org/):
As part of larger DNA Day celebrations, the conference will critically discuss the impacts of genomics and DNA on society as a whole. Especially for communities who are generally underrepresented in genomics, many have complex relationships with how genomics studies are conducted. Thus, our goal is to provide a platform for academics to voice these concerns to a broader audience. To see my tweet talk presentation on using ancient DNA to revisit & reconsider the historical record in the Americas follow the Twitter thread here.
I had a blast talking with Cara Ocobock and Chris Lynn from the Sausage of Science podcast last fall about my research with Ancient DNA in Puerto Rico, the genetic diversity of Latin American populations and my family's mofongo recipe.
As part of the events of our week in Mexico City we also gave two keynote speeches at the National Museum of Anthropology of Mexico (MNA) within a series called "El uso del ADN antiguo en el estudio de la historia humana" (The use of ancient DNA in the study of human history). The talks were recorded and live-streamed and you can watch them on the INAH TV youtube page here. The round table following our talks focuses on the ethics and practice of ancient DNA research, especially within the context of Mexico and Latin America, and features a rockstar panel completely formed of great women scientists all at different career levels. This course was a fun and extremely rewarding experience. I learned as much from the students as they did from us. Really looking forward to the next adventure with our friends at ENAH! **Update**: October 2019The National Museum of Anthropology of Mexico (MNA) YouTube channel interviewed us about our work last May and the video was released this month! Check it out here: La investigación antropológica en tiempos del ADN antiguo (En español). At the end of October I went to my home, Puerto Rico, to deliver three public outreach talks discussing my dissertation research with the public. In these presentations I talked about how my ancient DNA work can inform us about the origins of our ancient indigenous communities and expand our understanding of their genetic and cultural links to present-day Puerto Ricans. We visited the Centro Ceremonial of Tibes Museum in Ponce, PR, University of Puerto Rico-Ponce and University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras. Of all the talks I have ever given I have to say these were the most rewarding. I had a blast sharing my findings with members of indigenous communities, museum staff, students, teachers and many other people who came to talk with me about who we are and what the genetic data means to them as the living descendants of the ancient peoples whom I study. Special thanks to my family and friends for making this possible by driving me all around the island for three days straight! Today, we held the first of two open days at the LANGEBIO institute. Dr. Karla Sandoval and I had great fun talking with over 200 high school students on how we use genomics to understand human history.
Public round table on race, racism and anthropology at Museo Nacional de Antropología de Mexico5/19/2018
I participated as a panelist and round table discussant with Agustin Fuentes (University of Notre Dame) and Francisco Vergara (UNAM) at the conference "Raza, Racismo, antropología y evolución" held at the Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia in Mexico City and sponsored by the Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (ENAH). See the video of Agustin´s talk and our panel discussion on INAH TV here or press on the video link to the right (round table starts around minute 54). To read a great review written by Bernardo Yañez of the full week of courses taught by Agustin at ENAH during his visit and our panel discussion click here. Press coverage of our exposition is also available here (en español). Special thanks to the graduate students of the Physical Anthropology Program at ENAH for the invitation!
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