A Waterford senior’s unique path 

This month, Jack Khachatryan will graduate from the Waterford School after enrolling for 13 years there. But what sets him apart from most graduating seniors nationwide is a unique experience he gained in his final year: articulating a tortoise skeleton.

As part of a yearlong independent study in the Mark Bromley Nature Lab, Khachatryan spent countless hours identifying, sorting and reassembling bones, immersing himself in hands-on anatomical study. His work involved not only physical reconstruction, but also scientific deduction. Using size, weight, and other features, he determined the tortoise was likely a 50-pound female.

“I’ve learned not everything's on Google and there are not too many tortoise skeleton guidebooks,” he said. “We have pictures from similar species, and I can use those to piece together some. There are similarities of other species and I use that to guide my work.”

To assist with the technical aspects of the project, Khachatryan worked with Lee Post, known as the “Bone Man,” who is a renowned skeleton articulator from Alaska and author of specialized manuals; along with his mentor, Bekka Joslin, who oversees the nature lab.

“We recently got a book which is helpful, but with it, there are more than 100 vocabulary words that we need to learn,” she said. “What we've realized is finding diagrams of skeletons of animals is a lot harder than finding diagrams of skeletons of humans. The comparative anatomy piece has been part of the fun in this project.”

The evolution of the lab

The nature lab itself has deep roots at Waterford. It was started by science teacher emeritus Mark Bromley, who designed the collection in the early 1980s to serve as a hands-on teaching tool. He was Waterford’s first hired teacher.

“It helped me teach biology and the main thing now, is when the school opened this science building, they made room for it so there is a bigger, better space for the guts of the collection,” he said.

With the opening of the lab in 2023, it allowed all Waterford students to see the variety of taxidermy and skeletons—from elephants and moose to sea turtles and dolphins to drawers of the tiniest insects.

Designed to engage students through observation and analysis, the lab allows students to compare anatomical structures and explore evolutionary adaptations.

“This isn’t just an opportunity to look at the animals mounted or pull out a drawer to admire; it’s a teaching collection. A lot of the collection was donated from Bob Irvine, who wanted it to be used,” he said.

Among the specimens are skulls of beavers, crocodiles and hippopotamus—which he used to illustrate how animals adapt to their aquatic environments.

“You can go the other direction, too, and take a common ancestry and put them in dissimilar environments. Let's say you have a mammal that runs, like the black bears, who run with their hands flat more like a badger,” he added.

Donations from educators and collectors—including more than 200 mammals from the Irvine family and a fossil collection from retired Logan High teacher Paul Jameson—have helped the lab grow. 

Bromley, himself, has added specimens—often collected in unusual ways.

“I always make time for stopping at road kills. I call it, ‘opportunistic scavenging,’” he said.

A place for every discipline—and every student

The lab’s influence reaches far beyond science. Students use the collection for photography, art, English literature and Science Olympiad competitions. The interdisciplinary approach is by design.

“Recently, an English class explored the idea that ‘The Odyssey’ itself is like a fossil,” Joslin said. “It was dug up and was interpreted. We don't have the whole story, but we're interpreting what we do have. So, they took a fossil, this ammonite, and they had to write about it in media res, or in its present form, when it was alive. Waterford is a liberal arts school, so this provides an opportunity to find a crossover of disciplines and across the grade levels.”

The lab also incorporates natural history; for example, students prepare 12-order insect collections.

“As long as a specimen can tell a story, we're really interested in it. And it turns out, these all tell a story,” Bromley said.

Younger students get hands-on opportunities, sitting at tables Bromley has made, each with an inlaid fossil.

“Pre-K (4 year olds) was just here learning about Arctic animals and the adaptations animals have in polar regions, and that's part of the curriculum. They don't just learn about it by watching a video; We looked at the musk ox, and we wrapped them up in the bison cape so they could feel the warmth. They learned ermine hides change color with the seasons,” Joslin said.

Sixth graders study fossils, using hammers and chisels to uncover fish specimens which were acquired at the American Fossil Quarry in Wyoming.

“The goal of that unit is to build interest in paleontology,” she said. “This is one way we can pique their interest and give them that experience that they are the first human being to ever see that animal which now is 52 million years old.”

The nature lab also supports advanced study in human evolution. On one wall, skulls of primate skulls and replicas of hominins line the shelves.

“One of my favorite units for students to learn is human evolution. We have great apes other than humans and we're reaching back in time to get replicas of some of the oldest hominin fossils that have been found to extend the timeline we have for students in our understanding of human evolution,” she said.

Her curriculum includes stories of pioneering scientists such as Jane Goodall and the Leakeys.

Louis Leakey was Bromley’s inspiration.

“In high school, I wrote a letter to him,” he said. “I wanted to be in the field with him in Africa.”

Going forward

In addition to his work in the nature lab, Khachatryan, who is a member of Waterford’s robotics team, worked alongside his teammates on adaptive technologies for children with mobility challenges.

“I’m hoping to combine my interest in robotics with my passion for the nature lab and study biomedical engineering in college,” Khachatryan said. “This independent study has been a good way for me to experience the nature lab’s breadth and also its depth from assembling gray whale skulls to sorting the carpals of the tortoise. It’s a unique opportunity and something I’m glad I got to explore. I shared this experience during my interview with Duke University; I’m pretty sure I'm the only high school student they talked to about articulating a tortoise skeleton.” λ