The 3rd annual Population Ecology, Aging, and Health Network (PEcAHN) in-person meeting took place April 30–May 1, 2026 at the Washington Duke Inn in Durham, NC. The first morning opened with a welcome from Herman Pontzer, who introduced a new round of DLW grants and the afternoon working group structure, followed by a series of brief updates: three existing working groups (Accelerometry, R Urbanicity, and BMI/CRP) reported progress, and four new members were introduced — Ming Fei Li (incoming Postdoc at Duke), Teddy Thum (incoming Postdoc at Duke), Joon Hwang (Postdoc at UC Santa Barbara), and Marina Watowich (Postdoc at Vanderbilt). Additional introductions highlighted new research sites, including the Amish Research Project (Dr. Braxton Mitchell), the Galapagos (Dr. Amanda Thompson), alongside site updates on projects examining infectious disease, hydration, and the impact of extreme weather on health.
Thursday afternoon, attendees worked collaboratively on several collaborative, multi-site projects. Groups developed methods for harmonizing accelerometry/physical activity and urbanicity/market integration, and established new projects focusing on dietary intake comparison across sites, water and hydration, social connection and aging, infectious disease, and the PEcAHN website. Conversation and network building continued at a group dinner Thursday evening.
Friday followed with flash reports from working groups, then more extended working time through midday. The afternoon turned to organizational and strategic discussions: establishing shared norms around authorship, data usage, funding opportunities, meeting scheduling, and expanding the network with new field sites and researchers.
Led by DUPRI scholar and Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology and Global Health Herman Pontzer, PEcAHN was started in 2023. PEcAHN brings together research teams conducting intensive, long-term fieldwork in rural communities in the US and abroad. For more information about PEcAHN, visit the website.