FIFTH ANNUAL STAN-X CONFERENCE AT LAWRENCEVILLE

Over fifty students and their instructors attended the fifth annual student-led Stan-X Research Conference on April 29, 2023. Held in person on the beautiful campus of the Lawrenceville School, the day began with a video greeting from Dr. Seung Kim (who was traveling in Rome the time) to the attendees from five schools: The Lawrenceville School (NJ), Commack School (NY, The Chapin School (NYC, NY), the Hotchkiss School (CT) and The Haileybury School (Hertford, United Kingdom).

Students provided oral and poster presentations about their work on generating novel fruit fly lines. This involved intercrosses, mapping, and dissecting and imaging tissues. One highlight of the presentations was a description by Maddie (Hotchkiss School '23) of her collaboration with Leo (Hotchkiss '24) and her instructors in the Design Lab at Hotchkiss to develop 3D fly models and virtual images. These are being developed into video games and teaching materials for future classes.

Students from the participating schools also tried a new element of the conference: they worked in mixed brainstorming sessions to discuss and solve challenging problems together. The excitement and deep engagement of the students, and evident mastery of concepts and experimental outcomes was energizing for all! We are grateful to Ms. Nicole Lantz and Dr. Elizabeth Fox of Lawrenceville, who guided and organized the day.