Fresno State’s Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Club hosted the 25th Annual Applied Behavioral Analysis Conference, taking place in the Peters Business Building on Nov. 7.
“This year, we focus really on cultural impact,” said Geana Carrizales, the co-president of the ABA Club. “We try to bring a variety of speakers so that we as ABA students can actually see different speakers and different talks.”
The annual conferences are organized by the ABA Club every year, with help from the advisers, with the aim of presenting new research and applications to students and applied behavioral analysts alike.
“Typically, the graduate students plan the conference and that gets passed on from year to year,” said Alyson Toole, another co-president of the ABA Club. “We started as first-year students acting as the background, helping the second-year students with whatever they need, and this year we are the second-year students.”
While the conference was organized by the ABA Club, it was supervised by the faculty adviser, Jovonnie Esquierdo-Leal, who spoke about the club’s teamwork.
“In organizing the conference, our students came together really nicely to work together,” Esquierdo-Leal said. “The biggest goal is just creating a space for students, professionals and faculty to share knowledge and learn from one another.”
Esquierdo-Leal also spoke on what went into choosing some of the speakers for the conference, as well as the themes the club wanted to cover.
“One of the main topics we identified was AI being sort of up and coming in terms of there not being a lot of information available,” Esquierdo-Leal said. “We looked to find experts in that area, specifically in the field of behavioral analysis, but also considering some of the topics that our scientific community has been wanting to receive more information on.”
The attendees consisted of students, faculty and professionals within the field of ABA.
“The main thing I enjoy about these kinds of functions is that, well, for one, they are accessible for students to attend, but also the fact that they choose very captivating speakers,” said one student attendee who asked to remain anonymous. “It prepares me to deal with the constantly evolving field in a way I understand easier.”
Among the speakers was Sneha Kahli Mathur, Andrea Murray, Elizabeth Meshes and Penny Schenkkan, all of whom hold doctorates in philosophy and are board-certified behavioral analysts.
One of the themes of the conference was “Neurodiversity Affirming Practices in ABA,” led by Mathur. The talk explained that applied behavioral analysis needs to work more closely with the neurodivergent people it seeks to benefit.
“I’m happy it’s all been going smoothly,” said Luis Maravilla, the ABA Club’s treasurer. “Working with everyone in the program has been nice.”
The event closed with students and practitioners filling the University Business Center with networking conversations and temporary farewells.
