Dear Colleagues,
I am humbled by the opportunity to serve APA Division 6, the Society for Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology (SBNCP), as the president for 2025–26. As a long-time reader of the SBNCP journals (Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology), a listserv subscriber, and mentee of a past-president, the choice to get involved in SBNCP was not difficult. This will be my third year serving in the SBNCP Executive Committee, having started in 2023 as the program co-chair.
I am grateful for the support of current and past SBNCP presidents and executive committee members. Specifically, Amanda Dettmer, Jeremy Bailoo, Lauren Highfill, Lauren Robinson, Heather Hill, and Deidre Yeater. As SBNCP president for 2025–26, I look forward to carrying our experiences forward to support the growth and development of SBNCP. My goals are to help grow our membership, increase participation, and make the Division 6 program at APA a destination.
In line with these priorities, some exciting developments for 2025–26 include a renewed social media presence on the Bluesky social media platform. This was initiated by Past-President Highfill, who recruited our amazing social media coordinator, Dylan Davidoff. Dylan has created a well-organized approach to highlighting the achievements of SBNCP members, noteworthy publications in the SBNCP journals, and other exciting developments.
With the crucial support and assistance of Will Whitham, our SBNCP secretary, we have found several enthusiastic and thoughtful individuals to take on open positions on the executive committee. First, I am most excited for our program co-chairs, Elizabeth West Niedringhaus and Jessica Stagner Bodily, who bring enthusiasm, experience, and fresh perspectives to programming in 2026 and beyond. Our new awards chair, Kendal Smith, has likewise brought energy to the role. We are fortunate to have found a new Historian, Daniel Marston, who is an excellent fit and has already contributed an engaging and timely column. I also welcome with deep appreciation our president-elect, Olga Lipatova, and our student representative, Mario Rodriguez.
SBNCP is still seeking a newsletter editor. I express my appreciation to our past editor, Justin Varholick, who has graciously supported this edition of the newsletter. Please consider nominating yourself or an interested colleague for these important open positions. The newsletter is an important tool for disseminating the activities of our membership.
This spring, the APA Division Engagement Office asked each division to state its top areas of interest. These are the areas I stated as priorities for Division 6:
- Communicate the importance of research, including nonhuman animals, within and beyond APA.
- Increase conference participation. Promote the conference as a venue for early-career researchers and graduate students. Highlight opportunities for graduate students to give talks/posters and make connections with the field. This could involve supporting competitive travel awards and/or creating a fund to support travel awards.
- Continue to support and look for new ways to support diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and the right to free speech and expression of our SBNCP membership.
- Continue to engage with open science practices. Make connections to different areas and APA Divisions that have promoted this. Create a discussion on how to apply these ideas to Comparative and Behavioral Neuroscience research.
More information on APA Divisions and Their Top Interest Areas for 2025.
The call for submissions for the 2026 SBNCP Program at APA in Washington, DC, is open until January 14. I urge you to consider these priorities and consider supporting SBNCP with your participation in the 2026 meeting. We are looking for submissions from all areas under SBNCP.
Best regards,
Eric A. Thrailkill