February 14, 2014

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AAAS Happenings: Ladyparts and Roller Derby Shenanigans

Im attending the AAAS Meetings in Chicago this year in both my capacities as a scientist: as someone who does reproductive physiology research and as a science communicator.

By Kate Clancy

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

I’m attending the AAAS Meetings in Chicago this year in both my capacities as a scientist: as someone who does reproductive physiology research and as a science communicator. And it all happens tomorrow!

Check out the press briefing today for the Building Babies session. Katie Hinde is the symposium organizer, and fellow session speakers are Julienne Rutherford, Lee Gettler, Erin Kinnally and Robin Nelson.

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Wake up early to come see us in the Regency C room at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, the session starts at 8:30am!

Then tomorrow night, I will reprise my role as vaginal pH spokeswoman at the Ig Nobels event, performing a 24/7 talk. Better yet, Scicurious will be giving one too!

Then, because one always needs more smart women at any platform to celebrate science, I will be coordinating a roller derby skin microbiome transfer demo with Twin City Derby Girls leaguemate Polly Nator… and some special guests from the Chicago Outfit league as well!

So make sure you come to the Annals of Improbable Research event at 8pm in the Rouge Room (as in Moulin Rouge!) at the Fairmont Chicago.

I am Dr. Kate Clancy, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. On top of being an academic, I am a mother, a wife, an athlete, a labor activist, a sister, and a daughter. My beautiful blog banner was made by Jacqueline Dillard. Context and variation together help us understand humans (and any other species) as complicated. But they also help to show us that biology is not immutable, that it does not define us from the moment of our birth. Rather, our environment pushes and pulls our genes into different reaction norms that help us predict behavior and physiology. But, as humans make our environments, we have the ability to change the very things that change us. We often have more control over our biology than we may think.

More by Kate Clancy

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