T H E L O V E T T S C H O O L | 2025 S I E M P R E V E R D E
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
2025 TRIPS UPDATE By ALEX REYNOLDS, DIRECTOR OF SIEMPRE VERDE We had a wonderful summer of trips in 2025! For the first time ever, due to high demand, we offered two Lower School trips. PJ Miller, our LS Director of Teaching and Learning, led the first group of 22 people in June and LS teachers Sarah Griffin and McKenzie Braddy, led a second group of 24 participants in July (see p. 4). In addition, we had our inaugural Alumni Expeditions trip in June led by Chaplain Emeritus Steve Allen, Dr. Jennifer Reynolds, and myself, with 16 participants in all. This group was a wonderful mix of Lovett faculty, parents, and alumni, and we visited both Siempre Verde and the Galapagos Islands (see p. 4). As a biology teacher, I must say I feel incredibly lucky to have visited these "enchanted isles" multiple times now, and I can say without a doubt, these experiences (and the photos!) have benefited my classroom teaching tremendously. We were also lucky enough to host several university researchers this year. In April, UGA student Anderson Smith spent four weeks at Siempre Verde mist-netting birds with Sylvia Seger. Anderson is our first ever UGA Foundation Fellow to visit Siempre Verde, and she did an amazing job getting a variety of new net records during her visit (see p. 5). In May, the Atlanta Botanical Garden sent a conservation team of three researchers, including Yanny Vasquez Jacinto from Emory University (see p. 7), who are collaborating with ecologists from Universidad de Investigacion de Technologia Experimental Yachay near Cotacachi to study forest dynamics and fire recovery at high elevation (see p. 6). Yachay also sent a botany class in March, led by Dr. Hugo Romero-Saltos, who is also advising a thesis study on seed recruitment in the fire recovery plots. And last, but not least, Logan Kesner, a junior from University of North Carolina, visited from September through October to study epiphyte loads and orchid diversity in cloud forests (p. 6). This is an area of particular interest to me, so I’m really looking forward to seeing his results soon. Unfortunately, we had to postpone our Fall Break trip until Spring Break due to a month-long set of protests in Imbabura that blocked access to the reserve (along with our own U.S. government shutdown!). However, that’s still a total of 72 international visitors and 20 Ecuadorian university students and professors visiting the reserve this year. Looking forward to many more in 2026!
VISIT US IN 2026! FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 10: SOPHOMORE SPRING BREAK TRIP MARCH 7-15: UGA FOUNDATION FELLOWS TRIP MAY 25-JUNE 3: LOWER SCHOOL FAMILY TRIP JUNE 1-14: US TROPICAL ECOLOGY SUMMER COURSE JUNE 21-JUNE 30: MIDDLE SCHOOL GROUP OCTOBER 10-20: SOPHOMORE FALL BREAK TRIP
Left to Right: Galapagos Sea Lions at Isla Espanola; LS students at Lago Cuicocha; Pristimantis sp. in the orchid garden; Dinner family style at Braddy Lodge; US History Teacher & 10th Grade Dean David Brunt ('85) at the Arriba Overlook
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