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Vote for Chapter Vice President
We invite you to vote for your new Chapter Vice President. Online voting is open now and will close at 11:59pm on Thursday, April 16th. In-person voting will be available to those who are attending our Annual Meeting on Friday, April 17th, when the results will be announced.
To ensure only one vote per person, you will be required to sign in to your Google account to participate in online voting. Personal information will be stripped from the data when ballots are counted. The link to the online ballot is here.
Candidate statements
Gideon Gargar
I am a first-year PhD student in Statistics at the University of New Mexico, where I also teach undergraduate courses as a graduate teaching assistant. I am interested in this role because I value spaces where students and professionals within the chapter can connect and learn from each other. I would like to support activities that make the chapter more engaging for students and early-career members, while also strengthening links between academic and applied work. I am open to working with fellow members to build on what the chapter is already doing well.
J. Derek Tucker
I am honored to be considered for Vice President of the ASA Albuquerque chapter and am committed to strengthening our statistical community. My experience in mentoring, collaboration, and applied research has shown me the importance of connecting professionals across academia, industry, and government. I am particularly passionate about supporting students and early-career statisticians through meaningful engagement and professional development opportunities. As Vice President, I would focus on expanding member engagement, enhancing career development programs, and increasing collaboration across the national laboratories and the universities for a more unified chapter. I am committed to listening to our members and working collaboratively to help our chapter grow and thrive. Thank you for your consideration.
Annual Meeting
We are excited to announce our annual chapter meeting will be held on Friday, April 17th, 2026 at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM. This is the same venue as last year, and we're looking forward to their beautiful rooms and delicious (and ample) food.
This year's meeting will include:
- Keynote speaker Dr. Tom Stockton
- 2 sessions of talks
- Student poster session and competition
- Visioning session
- Election of officers
The final agenda is available here.
Registration for the meeting is now closed. If you are interested in late registration, please contact our Chapter President, Audrey McCombs, at audrey.mccombs at gmail dot com.
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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