| Albuquerque ChapterAmerican Statistical Association
Who We Are
The Albuquerque Chapter of the American Statistical Association (ACASA) serves statisticians working in industry, academia, and government across the state of New Mexico. The goals of the chapter are to:
- Build and maintain professional networks connecting statisticians and data scientists at all career levels, from student to emeritus.
- Facilitate professional development and outreach opportunities, particularly geared toward:
- Educating the broader community about statistics and data science, and
- Stimulating interest in statistics and data science careers.
The Chapter holds yearly meetings and other occasional events to provide networking and professional development opportunities for members. Chapter officers can also connect members of the public in need of statistical services with working statisticians and data scientists. If you are interested in joining the Chapter or would like to be connected with a statistician, please contact any of the Chapter officers or visit the American Statistical Association membership web site.
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Upcoming Events
We will be hosting our Annual Chapter Meeting in Spring 2026. Please keep an eye on this space for details. We expect to have a date finalized by the end of December 2025.
2025 Year in Review
2025 was an active year for the Albuquerque Chapter. On April 4 we held our annual chapter meeting at the Indian Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM. The morning consisted of a short course on statistics and machine learning taught by Drs. Alex Foss and Kurtis Shuler of Sandia National Laboratories. In the afternoon, attendees participated in a hackathon where we developed statistical and machine learning models for predicting epileptic seizures. The project was based on a problem and dataset provided by Dr. Sam McKenzie from the University of New Mexico Department of Neurosciences. During the business meeting, Devin Francom stepped down as President, Audrey McCombs moved from the position of Vice President to President, Leslie Gains-Germain was elected Vice President, Kelli Kasper was re-elected as Treasurer, and Justin Strait was re-elected as Secretary. Adah Zhang continues as Chapter Representative to ASA.
On April 12 the Chapter sponsored a special award, “Excellent Use of Statistics,” at the New Mexico Science and Engineering Fair hosted by New Mexico Tech in Soccoro, NM. A four-person team of chapter officers and chapter members awarded first-, second-, and third-place prizes with monetary values of $100, $75, and $50 to high school students participating in the fair.
The Chapter hosted two social events this year: a hike near Santa Fe, NM in the Spring, and an evening at an Isotopes baseball game in Albuquerque in June. The events were attended by a small but enthusiastic mix of chapter officers and chapter members.
On October 16th the Chapter hosted a Fall Mentoring Panel for graduate and undergraduate students interested in a career in statistics and/or data science. Our panelists were Mark Montoya, MPH; Tom Stockton, PhD; and Carol A. Gotway Crawford, Ph.D, and the panel was moderated by Chapter President Audrey McCombs, PhD. Representing diverse career stages and career paths, the panelists discussed the current job market, what employers are looking for in job candidates, challenges and opportunities presented by developments in AI, and the type of work they do on a day-to-day basis. A thought-provoking question-and-answer session and a lively pizza social followed the moderated discussion.
We thank everyone who supported us during 2025, and look forward to a lively and productive 2026.
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Current Officers
President: Audrey McCombs, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center
Vice President: Leslie Gains-Germain, Neptune and Company
Chapter Representative: Adah Zhang, Sandia National Laboratories
Treasurer: Kelli Kasper, University of New Mexico
Secretary: Justin Strait, Los Alamos National Laboratory
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