JENNIFER WURTZEL'S INNER LIGHT
CURRENT POSITION: Paleoclimatology Ph.D. student at the Australian National University
LOCATION: Canberra, Australia
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN DEGREE: Earth Systems Science
GRADUATION YEAR: 2008
ACTIVITIES AT MICHIGAN: "Pops was pretty much life. With Small Ensembles directing, my quartet and the founding of the string orchestra in my senior year, I don't think there was a lot of time leftover...."
MICHIGAN POPS ORCHESTRA INSTRUMENT: Cello
Listen to one of Jennifer's favorite Pops pieces while you read about her Pops Life!
A CONVERSATION WITH JENNIFER
KELLY COMPTON, our Pops Life correspondent, takes us to the other side of the world to unearth what Jennifer has been up to, and how the Pops has helped her blaze her own path Down Under
KC: Jennifer, tell us a bit about your musical background before coming to Michigan
JW: At my elementary school, they cleverly offered string instruments in third grade and band instruments in fourth. I was really eager to start playing an instrument, so I started cello in third grade with the absolute intention of switching to a 'cool' instrument like sax or trumpet in fourth grade. When the time came, my parents insisted that the string orchestra needed me and that I shouldn't abandon the cello. I stuck with it.
It took me a few more years to realize that the cello was the cool instrument, and I definitely don't have any regrets now. I started developing a passion for chamber music in middle school, forming a group with some of my closest friends. We had an eclectic little group comprised of two violins, a flute, a clarinet, a viola, and a cello, and I would arrange music for us to play from our favorite after-school TV show, Sailor Moon!
In high school, I played with the Long Island Youth Orchestra. The conductor of this orchestra doubled as a travel agent and took the orchestra on fabulous one-month long summer tours. As a member of the orchestra, I went on three of these tours, traveling to and playing concerts in Scandinavia, England, Canada, Hawaii, Samoa, the Cook Islands, and New Zealand. I also played with a string orchestra and string quintet. With the quintet, we always made sure that we included movie themes and contemporary pieces along with the more conventional classical pieces, because we knew they were crowd favourites. We loved getting together to play at hospitals and nursing homes, especially during the holidays.
KC: What drew you to the Michigan Pops Orchestra?
JW: Despite my strong musical background, I hadn't actually intended to join an orchestra at Michigan - maybe just a casual quartet. I was pretty concerned with my heavy course load and knew an orchestra could be a serious time commitment. In retrospect, I can't believe I ever considered not being in an orchestra. But when I heard there was a Pops orchestra, I just couldn't help but check it out. I had played pops pieces with my quartet but very rarely with full orchestra. The general meeting cinched it. I got such a great vibe about the orchestra that I couldn't help but join. I played in the orchestra every semester I was at Michigan!
KC: What are some of your favorite memories of being part of the Pops?
JW: I had great fun with the orchestra every semester. It was a blast seeing what crazy ideas people came up with and eventually contributing to those as well. But I think some of my favorite memories belong to small ensembles. I had such a great time putting together groups, but especially playing with my string quartet. We played together for all 4 years of undergrad and we had such amazing cohesion. We'd also try and play pops music in the quartet, which was a lot of fun. The 10th anniversary concert was also very memorable. It was on the same weekend as my 20th birthday and my parents flew in from New York to see it. In addition to our own talent, the vocal talent that we showcased in that concert was outstanding. “Songs for a New World” remains an all-time favourite (and I think I can hear my dad in the crowd cheering at the very end).
KC: How do you feel that your career, relationships, and general mindset have been shaped by your experience with Pops?
JW: I met my best friend, Shari Rosen, in Pops. We were assigned to a quartet together in freshman year, eventually became roommates and best friends. We both ended up in New York for a few years after undergrad, which really allowed us to stay close. While she was living in NY, she met one of my friends from first grade, and last year, she married him!
As for my general mindset, I was really really shy growing up and didn't speak up much. Pops gave me the confidence to really put myself out there, especially when I joined the board as Small Ensembles Director. I think, in part, because I knew I was surrounded by like-minded people, I learned how to speak up and voice my opinion at meetings. The Pops culture really embraced outgoing behavior, and while I still wouldn't call myself an extrovert, I think Pops taught me a lot about not being afraid to be myself and speak my mind.
KC: Tell me how you ended up in Australia! What are you up to?
JW: I have been on the path to science since I was 5 years old, when I decided I was going to study space. I actually started Michigan as an Astronomy major, but discovered in the first year, that I wanted to do something a bit more hands-on. That was the same year that the movie Day after Tomorrow came out and it inspired me to look into earth sciences. I graduated from Michigan in Earth Systems Science and an interest in paleoclimatology, the study of earth's past climates.
At Stony Brook, I did an M.S. in Marine Paleoclimatology, which meant I used cores of mud pulled up from the ocean floor to learn how ocean temperatures have changed over the last 2000 years. During that time, I learned that you can also learn about changes in rainfall patterns by looking at stalagmites from caves. There are only a few labs in the world that do this type of research, so for my PhD, I packed up my life and flew to the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia to work on stalagmites that were collected from Sumatra.
I am now just a few weeks away from submitting my thesis about how rainfall patterns in the tropical Indian Ocean have changed over the last 15,000 years. You'd be amazed how much it relates to Day After Tomorrow.
KC: What advice would you give to students interested in a similar career path?
JW: Ph.D. life, and academic life afterwards, is not easy. It often requires you to be mobile and competitive, and most importantly, passionate about what you do. This is a career that you pursue because you love what you study and you love to learn. That said, it's incredibly rewarding; you meet a lot of people, you travel around the world, and sometimes you break new ground in your field.
KC: What does the Pops mean to you personally?
JW: I think Pops saved me during undergrad. My closest friends mostly came from Pops and that emotional support was critical for getting through some of the tougher semesters I had academic-wise. I can't believe how lucky I was that Pops existed at Michigan and that I saw that flyer in the first week. It's been almost 10 years since I graduated, and I think I still bring up Pops casually once a month in some way or another.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Jen is too modest to talk about how she and fellow alum Shari (Rosen) Schwarzwald co-founded the Michigan Pops String Orchestra. Click on the photo above to learn more!
Also, here are two videos - the first is me competing in the 3 Minute Thesis competition where I explain my science to a general audience in 3 minutes. The second is me playing my paleoclimate reconstruction on cello:
JENNIFER'S FAVORITES
- INDIANA JONES MOVIE: Last Crusade
- BOOK OF ALL TIME: Shogun (but I did just reread it. Last month, I might have said Ender's Game)
- STAR TREK EPISODE: Whoa....that's a loaded one...just one? Across all the series?? "Inner Light" - where Captain Picard is 'transported' into the life of an alien living on a dying planet. Hard to go past the "Trouble with Tribbles" in the original series and the amazing effects in "Trials and Tribble-lations" of DS9. And despite not mentioning a Voyager episode, I got my Star Trek start in Voyager and have a deep fondness for the series.
- RESTAURANT IN A2 AND AUSTRALIA: Ann Arbor - Bubble Island was definitely a favorite. Canberra, Australia - maybe Dickson Noodle House, because they have the best laksa, which I only discovered upon coming to Australia. Laksa is an amazing southeast Asian curry soup, like Panang curry in soup form.
- AUSTRALIAN DELICACY: Caramel TimTams
- POPS PIECE: “Songs for a New World”
- THINGS YOU MISS ABOUT AMERICA: New York bagels and pastrami sandwiches, baseball, and late night shopping. Everything closes here at 5.
11/1/17