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Conceptualization of how tamarin helpers balance the costs and benefits of infant care depending on sex, age, group tenure, physical condition, and group size. Tamarin illustration by Slebome, CC BY?SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12078418. |
The American Society of Primatologists (ASP) stands in support of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in their search for justice and affirms that Black Lives Matter. We condemn discrimination, harassment, acts of brutality, and violence against Black people, and by extension all communities of color. The ASP acknowledges that far too many Black people and other persons of color have been subjected to racism and police violence throughout their lives. We support all efforts to end racism and injustice through legal actions such as peaceful protest, policy change, and systemic reform.
The ASP is an inclusive society. We welcome anyone who has an interest in understanding primates to join our society, without consideration of race, skin color, nationality, ethnicity, religious beliefs, sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. We require our members to treat one another respectfully, as described in our Code of Conduct Policy in which we “prohibit any form of harassment, sexual or otherwise, toward any of our members regardless of age, ethnicity, race, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ability, marital status, appearance, nationality, language, or any other reason.”
Recognizing that diverse and inclusive scientific communities are more productive, innovative, and impactful1, to date, the ASP has taken a number of steps to encourage and ensure diversity within our society. We provide free membership and access to the ASP’s journal, the American Journal of Primatology, to individuals from habitat countries. We support Latin American primatologists by dedicating one of our annual student travel awards for them. In addition, at the 2018 meeting in San Antonio, we held an inaugural symposium of conference presentations given in Spanish; we plan to make this a regular part of the ASP scientific program moving forward.
While we are proud of these steps, the ASP acknowledges that there is more work to be done. The ASP strives to cultivate an atmosphere supportive of each member, that welcomes all, and we will work to strengthen the voices of underrepresented communities in our society. These are the next steps we plan to take:
The ASP asks all of its members to challenge racism and move toward substantial structural changes where we live and work—the academic, industrial, social and scientific circles in which we operate must change. We can do this by:
The ASP is committed to being a part of this important movement and to make meaningful changes to combat racism and advance equity, inclusion, and diversity within primatology and science, more generally. In this process our members will be better served, and the science of primatology will be enhanced.
The Board of Directors, ASP
1Jimenez MF, Laverty TM, Bombaci SP, Wilkins K, Bennett DE, Pejchar L. Underrepresented faculty play a disproportionate role in advancing diversity and inclusion. Nat Ecol Evol. 2019;3(7):1030-1033. doi:10.1038/s41559-019-0911-5
ASP's New Website GOES LIVE May 1st 2021
Our new ASP Website will go live May 1st 2021!
The March 2021 Action Letter of the ASP Conservation Action Network (ASP-CAN) is available to download. We encourage our membership to engage in scientific activism to protect the world's primates and their environments from extinction. The time to act is now!
Special section on COVID-19 in current issue of Am. J. Primatology
Dr. Karen Bales has an editorial leading off the special section, which also includes several commentaries. Wiley has agreed to make this entire section freely available. Check out American Journal of Primatology, 2020, 82(8).
AJP Impact Factor is up!!
The 2019 Impact Factor for American Journal of Primatology was just announced, and it has risen from 2.009 to 2.067! AJP remains the primatology journal with the highest Impact Factor. Congratulations to Dr. Karen Bales, Editor in Chief, and her Editorial Board!
Special Issue of AJP!
A special issue of the American Journal of Primatologists has just been published, with the title: Surviving in fragmented landscapes: Identifying variables that influence primate population viability and persistence in forest fragments. The issue was guest-edited by Lisa Gould, Matthew R. McLennan, and Giuseppe Donati. Wiley has agreed to make the articles freely available to all for three months, or until mid-July 2020. You can read a press release from Oxford Brookes University here.