Anne Weil
Associate Professor of Anatomy
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences

It is an honor to be nominated to serve as a Member-at-Large on the Executive Committee of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. As a new member of the SVP in 1989 I was immediately drafted onto the Annual Meeting Host Committee and later swept into a graduate student meeting that later evolved into today’s Round Table event. Since then I have been an active member, serving on the Romer-Simpson Medal Committee, as a Technical Editor for JVP, and attending many business meetings. I have benefitted from participation in SVP activities, including workshops on new analysis methods and field trips that expanded my understanding of scientifically significant outcrops.

My lab members and I have debuted new work at many SVP meetings and in research, education, and preparation sessions. My contributions to the field include co-organizing symposia at SVP and at both national and regional Geological Society of America meetings. I have further served the discipline as an Associate Editor of Proceedings B for six years. My research focus is extinction and diversification, especially of multituberculate mammals. Since 2012 I have also been directing excavation of a Morrison Formation locality by Oklahoma high school students, outreach that has resulted in at least two students going on to graduate school and in others who would not otherwise have the opportunity participating in collecting data for research. Although I came to the field through Geology I am one of a growing number of SVP members who teach Anatomy and mentor paleontology students who aspire to leverage their knowledge of vertebrate anatomy to teach in Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, and Allied Health.

My administrative experience has been in service to my institution, where I have chaired faculty committees. As President of the Faculty Senate in the challenging pandemic year I increased transparency of the Senate and communication with the General Faculty. I worked successfully with staff and administration to move meetings of both the Senate and the General Faculty into video conference format. My institution has since opened a second campus in partnership with the Cherokee Nation and equal participation demands that all faculty meetings are now accomplished by video conference.

I’m excited by the possibilities embodied in SVP’s Virtual Meeting and would like to lend my experience to expanding Societal offerings and reach through synchronous and asynchronous formats. Such expansion should increase inclusivity by lowering financial barriers and enabling participation by scientists in countries in which a physical meeting has never been held. Exchange of a greater diversity of ideas, knowledge, and perspectives will benefit our members and the development of our discipline worldwide.