Melanie Bowen at an outcrop in the Himalayas. (Denise K. Kulhanek)
“Try to do undergraduate research, because it opens so many doors,” she said.
“And, find something that you love, whether that be one individual class that you can specialize in or run with, or a research area. If I wasn’t passionate about what I was reading or researching, I wouldn’t be motivated to work as hard. Try your best because it really does pay off in the end.”
But her passion for geological exploration wasn’t always at the front of Bowen’s mind. When she began at Texas A&M as a freshman, she was studying petroleum engineering. After taking one geology course, she soon realized that the aspect of petroleum that she was most interested in was geology. Bowen said that “after reassessing my skills and passions,” transferring to the Department of Geology and Geophysics was a perfect fit.
“The department is highly acclaimed and has phenomenal programs,” she said. “I’ve been very fortunate to receive several scholarships from the College and Department, thanks to our generous donors.”
A sense of community
Bowen received the Murry D. Page Endowed Scholarship from the College of Geosciences and the George W. Crocker II scholarship from the Department of Geology and Geophysics.
After graduating from Texas A&M this month with her B.S. in geology and as the top-ranked geology student among December graduates, Bowen will begin a paid internship at ExxonMobil for the spring semester. After a paid summer internship with SM Energy, she is planning to pursue graduate school later in 2018, she said.
But first, Bowen is culminating her undergraduate research experience by presenting a research poster on her work at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, the largest gathering of space and earth scientists in the world, this week in New Orleans.
“AGU will be a great way to finish,” she said.
As she looked ahead to her career moving forward, Bowen said what she’ll miss the most about Aggieland is the people.
“I’ll miss the sense of community that I’ve grown to become a part of here in G&G,” she said. “My peers and our professors who have given me such fantastic advice over the years – I will miss them. I’ll miss them a lot.”
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Media contact: Leslie Lee, Communications Coordinator, College of Geosciences, (979) 845-0910, leslielee@tamu.edu.