Around The Quads
I learned at Loomis are still being learned.” At the ceremony, Head of School Sheila Culbert presented diplomas to 185 graduates and Commencement prizes to six members of the class. Viet Phuong “VP” Dao received the Loomis Family Prize for the top male scholar in the graduating class. Ye Dam Lee received the Mary Chaffee and Charles Henry Willcox Prize for the top female scholar in the class. Frederick McNulty received the Ammidon Prize, which goes to a young man who “has been outstanding in his concern for other people.” Shondaray Ducheine received the Florence E. Sellers Prize, which recognizes “a quest for excellence, self-discipline, and a concern for others.” Riker Jones received the Nathaniel Horton Batchelder Prize for “industry,
Commencement prize winners and dignitaries: (back) Caleb Harris, Frederick McNulty, Trustee Reginald Paige, Commencement Speaker Ruthie Davis ’80, Trustee Andrew Carter ’58, Head of School Sheila Culbert, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Christopher Norton ’76, Viet Phuong Dao, and Zachary Wolf; (front) Robert Carroll, Shondaray Ducheine, Sarah Patrick, Ye Dam Lee, Belle Jung, Laura McConney, and Riker Jones. Photo: Highpoint
loyalty, and integrity.” Sarah Patrick received the Jennie Loomis Prize, recognizing “outstanding contributions to the school.” At Class Night the previous evening, Sheila presented Sellers Faculty Prizes to seniors Robert Carroll, Caleb Harris, Belle Jung, Laura McConney, and Zachary Wolf.
of first headmaster Nathaniel Horton Batchelder, who wanted a school “where it would be easy to be good and to be friendly,” qualities that Sheila said are “perhaps overlooked values in a competitive world where the more usual mode of conduct can be harsh and unforgiving.”
In her closing remarks at Commencement, Sheila cited the words
Sheila reminded the new graduates that they are now part of a special
group who can call themselves Loomis Chaffee alumni. “We will follow your life path with interest and a special fondness,” she said. “And remember that wherever you go and whatever you do, you have a home here.” To see more photos from Commencement, go to loomischaffee. org / magazine.
Students Extract Genetic Coding from Lichen
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University of Connecticut biology professor enlisted Loomis Chaffee science students this spring in a global DNA barcoding project. The advanced biology students gathered genetic data from samples of lichen as part of the International Barcode of Life project, which seeks to identify species through their unique genetic sequences.
“This is real research, in real time, by real scientists,” science teacher Scott MacClintic ’82 says about the opportunity. “It’s rare for high school students to be actively involved in research occurring at the international level.” Bernard Goffinet, associate professor in the UConn Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, visited Scott’s Biology II Advanced Genetics class to give a seminar titled “Barcoding Lichen-Forming
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studying Pseudocyphellaria lichen in the southernmost portion of South America’s Patagonia region. Many of the samples were collected from Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, one of the most biologically diverse areas on the globe for lichens and many other species. UConn professor Bernard Goffinet explains genetic barcoding to an Advanced Genetics class. Photo: Patricia Cousins
Fungi” and to provide lichen samples for the project. Lichen, as described by Professor Goffinet, are the result of a “very sophisticated interaction between fungus and alga or bacteria.” There are more than 15,000 species of lichen, but the genetics class focused its barcoding work on the genus Pseudocyphellaria. Professor Goffinet has spent more than 10 years
After the seminar and discussion, the students began the barcoding process by extracting DNA from the provided samples. Barcoding uses a short genetic sequence to identify species in the way that a grocery store scanner uses the stripes of Universal Product Codes to identify merchandise, according to the Barcode of Life website. The genetic data that the students collected will advance the international project and also may become part of the National Institute of Health genetic sequence database.
19th century engraving of lichen istock.com
“The students’ experience here at LC, and this project in particular, separate them from the pack of talented students of science at the collegiate level,” Scott says. “When they knock on [a] professor’s door, what will impress is not how much science they’ve studied but how much science they’ve done.”