Missouri ABA

By Ali Cooper

The Missouri Association for Behavior Analysis (MOABA) is an organization founded to support and promote scientific research on basic principles of behavior and the effective and ethical application of those principles across the great state of Missouri.

This year we welcomed Madeline Burke (president-elect), and Andresa DeSouza (treasurer). Returning board members included Miin-An Hošić (secretary), Megan Boyle (member at large), John Guercio (member at large), Alan Lowe (student representative), Ali Cooper (president), and Jennifer Weyman (past-president). We thank Todd Streff (former treasurer), and Leanne Hopper (former past president) for their commitment to MOABA and the practice of behavior analysis in Missouri.

Last year we held our annual MOABA conference in St. Louis, Missouri in November 2021. To ensure the safety of our members, we provided the opportunity to attend in-person or virtually. We offered six presentations and four workshops. Our invited presenters included Nasiah Cirincione-Ulezi, Natalie Parks, SungWoo Kahng, Nicholas Green, Brett DiNovi, Paul “Paulie” Gavoni, Bobby Newman, Dorothea Lerman, Marta T. “Tiki” Fiol, Andresa De Souza, Coby Lund, and Janet Lund. We selected presentations to highlight the importance of culture and diversity in behavior analysis such as, “Advancing the Practices of Humble Behaviorism and Cultural Humility in Behavior Analysis” by Nasiah Cirincione-Ulezi and “Undoing the Institutional Racism in Policing” by Natalie Parks. In 2021, MOABA also held a summer workshop entitled, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Clinical Applications” by Sarah Bloom.

During the annual conference, the MOABA board added a student poster contest. This allowed for students to receive feedback on posters from our notable presenters and two students were selected to receive free admission to the annual 2022 conference. MOABA will continue to provide opportunities to support student research in the future.

MOABA continues to be committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The board of directors will continue to include presentations related to culture and diversity during future workshops and conferences.

We are thankful for our members and their dedication to using behavior analysis to improve the lives of others. In the future, we will continue to support behavior analysts across Missouri.