In the ocean’s depths, the eerie glow emanating from bioluminescent creatures remains the only respite from total darkness. Despite the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench extending seven miles below the surface with pressures a thousand times greater than on the surface, life persists and even thrives in this alien and largely unexplored environment. Benjamin “Ben” Tian (’23) remembers how learning about the Challenger Deep in middle school ignited wonder about the oceans and the mysteries of the deep sea within him. 

“The first submarine to go to the bottom of the ocean was really interesting because the submarine has to have a lot of pressure and has to withstand a lot of pressure, and it was the first time ever seeing the bottom of the ocean,” Ben said. “It inspired a lot of curiosity. A lot of the deep sea is unknown to a lot of people, and that’s really interesting.” 

Ben’s love of marine biology blossomed in middle school as he researched how to best care for his pet betta fish. Since then, his interest has only expanded. But what started as a quest for information to take care of his fish blossomed into a passion for discovering new knowledge about marine life.

“Back in eighth grade I was like, ‘I’d like to try to keep a fish.’” Ben said. “I got a fish, and I got really interested in how to take care of the fish, so I got more into researching it, and it gradually got really interesting.”

Last summer, Ben traveled to Cornell’s Shoals Marine Laboratory on Appledore Island in Maine to learn about marine biology, where he dissected sharks which had been bycatch and learned how to conduct research. 

“We went onto an island, and there, we went offshore and we went shark fishing and learned about different types of sharks,” Ben said. “I shadowed with a professor there, and I worked with her on the research. There are very difficult, rigorous tasks. We had to wake up at 4 a.m. to go out to the beach.”

Ben’s research projects started with him building his own automatic fish feeder in middle school and have expanded in complexity and impact since then. After learning about artificial intelligence, Ben sought to combine marine biology with computer science, creating an app to identify the species of fish using neural networks. The intellectual curiosity that drives Ben in his research shines through to upper school economics teacher Sam Lepler.

“Ben is very intelligent, so he’s able to figure things out,” Lepler said. “He’s interested in learning not just the surface level of things, but really understanding what’s underneath, understanding the mathematical connections and the real world connections.”

Through diving into both marine biology and programming, Ben challenged himself to discover solutions to such technical problems and make new discovers and hopes to continue this pursuit of knowledge into the future.

“My favorite part of computer science is having the ability to create solutions,” Ben said. “Computer science is a very complicated subject, so trying to navigate and combine concepts to create solutions. Computer science taught me how to learn on my own or find solutions on my own because it’s very complex.”

In both his research and personal life, Ben constantly reflects on how his actions impact his environment. Close friend Mir Bahri (’23) admires his commitment to protecting the natural world.  

“Ben cares a lot about the environment, which is really amazing,” Mir said. “I remember in middle school and upper school, whenever we’d go out to eat, he would refuse to be anywhere that serves plastic straws or plastic forks or spoons. That’s really indicative of his dedication and his passions to the things that he cares so much about.”

Ben’s devotion to his personal values extends beyond environmentalism to all aspects of his life. Close friend Dyllan Han (’23) appreciates Ben’s upright principles as well as his care for his friends.

“Ben is uniquely honest and consistent with his principles, and when he describes himself, or when he says an opinion, it’s not just an opinion; it’s actually something that he lives by,” Dyllan said. “I now see him as one of the most emotionally mature people I’ve met. He’s very compassionate, and he’s really opened up. He’s one of the best people to have a conversation with at school.”