Robert Barker/University Photography

Tess Brandon, in the upper gorge of Treman State Park near Ithaca. Her Cornell career has combined a love of science with a love of music.

Major: Science of Earth systems, with a concentration in ocean sciences
College: Arts and Sciences
Hometown: Lake Bluff, Ill.

I had no idea what I wanted to study or do with my life. Cornell really has everything, and I knew I'd be able to get a top-quality education in whatever field I landed in. Also, I appreciated Cornell's tiny, but very high-quality music department and its accessibility to nonmajors.

Music. I was a member of the CU Steel Band and now a current member of the Chorus, but the most important group for me has been my co-ed a cappella group, the Chordials. We are a diverse group in every sense, and we've all become so close as a product of our shared love of making music.

I've been able to contribute to some very interesting research through summer internships and jobs, as well as a semester I spent on the Big Island of Hawaii. There were a lot of epiphanic moments in that semester away; I learned a lot about myself and what I was capable of, about my interests, about people and about another culture. Also, in a separate internship with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, I spent three weeks on a research vessel in the middle of the Bering Sea, which was quite a challenge and extremely rewarding.

This happened during my semester in Hawaii. After an entire afternoon and evening of hiking across barren pahoehoe lava fields on Kilauea Volcano, we happened upon a six-foot-diameter hole in the ceiling of an active lava tube. We had to be quiet to listen for cracking beneath our feet, and [we] each took turns creeping up to the skylight and peering down into the flowing lava river beneath. The combination of the quiet, the setting sun, the otherworldly surroundings and the presence of all of these people I knew and loved sharing something so exciting (the creation of new land!) is something I'll never forget.

This summer I'll do research in physical oceanography with autonomous underwater vehicles at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. It should help me decide whether I'll go on for my Ph.D. in oceanography or a master's program for environmental management or environmental/coastal planning. After the fellowship I'd like to hike part of the Pacific Crest Trail, then work in environmental consulting doing applied research for a year or so before grad school. I'd prefer to end up in Seattle, so I can play Shona marimba, an ensemble instrument my family used to play and which has a strong culture in the Pacific Northwest. As long as I can continue to do science and music, I'll be happy.