Our graduates include directors of the National Weather Service, television weathercasters, numerous NWS and U.S. Air Force forecasters, private-sector weather and finance analysts, and professors, among other careers. Graduate students at FSU learn theory and practice in the classroom and through research with the faculty whose expertise spans a multitude of areas in atmospheric science, including synoptic and dynamic meteorology, hurricanes, climate change, remote sensing, greenhouse gases and air pollution.
We offer two meteorology graduate degree programs: a Ph.D. and an M.S.
Faculty members and graduate students in the department are involved in research in many areas including: tropical meteorology, oceanic upwelling, turbulence and boundary layer meteorology, radiation physics, satellite remote sensing, mesoscale analysis, numerical weather prediction, climate diagnostics and modeling, air/sea interaction, large-scale flow over mountains, statistical prediction, design of meteorological networks, and radar meteorology. The State Climatologist of Florida and the Florida State Climate Center provide opportunities for students interested in climatology. Research support is provided primarily by the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Faculty and graduate students of the department also participate in a number of national and international scientific research programs including various experimental field programs.
Many meteorology graduate students develop connections on campus with the National Weather Service regional forecast office and Center for Ocean-Atmosphere Prediction Studies (COAPS).
The Ph.D. degree requires a dissertation of original, independent research, guided by a faculty member. In most cases, applicants to the Ph.D. program already hold an M.S. degree in meteorology (or closely related field), either from our own M.S. program or from a different institution. However, qualified students may enter the Ph.D. program with only a bachelor's degree.
The master's degree requires students to complete six courses in climate, dynamics, synoptics, and physical meteorology, plus technical computing and mathematics courses. M.S. students must also write a thesis of research, under the supervision of a faculty member, or pass an M.S. exam. Qualified students with a bachelor's degree in meteorology or with a broad background in physics and mathematics can be admitted to the graduate program. Many incoming graduate students do not have prior training in meteorology. Students without prior meteorological coursework will be required to take foundational coursework during their first year in the graduate program. Complementary graduate degree programs are offered in the areas of applied mathematics, physical oceanography and geophysical fluid dynamics. Other strong supporting coursework is found in the Departments of Computer Science, Chemistry, Physics, Biological Science, and Statistics. Many of our M.S. graduates enter the workforce after receiving their degree, while others stay at FSU to continue towards a Ph.D. degree (subject to the availability of funding and support of a faculty supervisor).