Honors and AP Biology students, along with students from other schools, will be attending an in-school field trip today to listen to a guest speaker on the topic of genetics.

For over a decade, LZHS has been hosting a genetic conference where Sam Rhine, a professor from Indiana University, presents a new topic based on genetics each year. This year, his concentration will be on genes, cancer, and cancer therapy involving stem cells.

“What [Rhine] typically starts off with is about a 45 minute review of just DNA and Genes. For the AP students, it’s a great review for them. It’s kind of a preview of what we’re going to be covering in AP,” Anne Hopkins, science teacher, said. “It’s really nice for me to bring my AP students there because they got to see him when they were a freshman and now they can see their growth as a science student, two-three years later hearing him again. It’s really nice to get their feedback, seeing him a second time.”

While Hopkins uses this conference as a preview into their genetics unit, the Honors Biology students treat this as a follow up to their genetic unit, according to Hopkins. What she says she enjoys most about Rhine speaking is how he always presents new information.

“He is on the cutting edge. He will bring articles that were published in January. [The students] are getting all the current, cutting edge information as it relates to genetics,” Hopkins said. “Even though some students will perceive it like, ‘this is similar to what he talked about [before],’ it might be similar, but there’s always something that’s new. He never repeats.”

Samhita Tammana, sophomore, is looking forward to hearing about the new information Rhine will be presenting on cancer due to her grandma recently being diagnosed with breast cancer, and is interested in learning more.

“I believe that [this] biology convention is important to students because it applies to everything that we are learning in class,” Tammana said. “Overall, [this] gives us a better understanding of what we are learning by showing us real life examples and new discoveries.”