摘要:Biodemography has emerged and grown over the last fifteen years, with loyal and farsighted support from its patrons. As it enters what might be called its adolescence as a field, it faces challenges along with abounding opportunities. One challenge is to continue to generate knowledge that contributes to human health and well-being. A second is to insist on high standards of quality control within its cross-disciplinary environment. Opportunities appear in a variety of directions, including mathematical modeling, genomic analyses, and field studies of aging in the wild.