newtownwx Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Hi all, I will be going into my senior year at Millersville University this fall and plan on graduating next spring with a B.S. in Meteorology and a minor in Mathematics. Going into the major, my dream was to become a forecaster for the NWS one day, but once I realized how monotonous sitting in front of a computer all day can be, my goals quickly changed. Fortunately, I was exposed to the wonderful world of research last October, as I got to participate in a project in the Mojave Desert with several other students and my professor, Dr. Richard Clark. The research involved measuring dust and other particulates in the BL with the help of a tethered balloon. My experiences of conducting research in the desert were just surreal and now I would like to continue to involve myself in more of these hands-on projects. Now I just need to select the right place to do so. This is where you folks come into play! What schools offer superior research programs in BL/cloud physics research? Since I graduate in two semesters, I have to seriously consider graduate school and should be applying this fall. I currently have a 3.5 GPA and, as I mentioned, already have some research experience. In addition, I will be immersing myself in a similar project this January. I have been browsing around online and noticed that CU Bolder, CSU, OSU, OU, Alabama Huntsville, and Wyoming all have respected programs that suite my needs. Although my education is number one, location is very important to me as well! I need to not only enjoy what I am doing, but also like the environment in which I am working. I know my interests are very focused, but any pertinent information would be extremely helpful. Thanks! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
am19psu Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 I've been out of the game for a while, but you should check to see what Anne Thompson and Jerry Harrington are doing at PSU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellinwood Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 SUNY Albany has a solid research area in cloud physics, air chemistry and air quality amongst other things. Most of the researchers are not actually professors at Albany, but they work at the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center on the edge of campus. The ASRC is in the same building as the Albany NWS and it's a great place for a young researcher. Here's the main faculty listing along with their respective areas of research: http://www.asrc.albany.edu/people/faculty/faculty.html I spent a summer there working with Scott Miller and Matt Czikowsky and had a blast, including spending time out on lakes and rivers on his R/V (a pontoon boat). It was a hands-on project but also included some lab work and programming. I'm sure there's a handful of people at the ASRC and perhaps some professors whose research would relate to what you're looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scuddz Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Hi all, I will be going into my senior year at Millersville University this fall and plan on graduating next spring with a B.S. in Meteorology and a minor in Mathematics. Going into the major, my dream was to become a forecaster for the NWS one day, but once I realized how monotonous sitting in front of a computer all day can be, my goals quickly changed. Fortunately, I was exposed to the wonderful world of research last October, as I got to participate in a project in the Mojave Desert with several other students and my professor, Dr. Richard Clark. The research involved measuring dust and other particulates in the BL with the help of a tethered balloon. My experiences of conducting research in the desert were just surreal and now I would like to continue to involve myself in more of these hands-on projects. Now I just need to select the right place to do so. This is where you folks come into play! What schools offer superior research programs in BL/cloud physics research? Since I graduate in two semesters, I have to seriously consider graduate school and should be applying this fall. I currently have a 3.5 GPA and, as I mentioned, already have some research experience. In addition, I will be immersing myself in a similar project this January. I have been browsing around online and noticed that CU Bolder, CSU, OSU (both Oregon State and Oklahoma State), Alabama Huntsville, and Wyoming all have respected programs that suite my needs. Although my education is number one, location is very important to me as well! I need to not only enjoy what I am doing, but also like the environment in which I am working. I know my interests are very focused, but any pertinent information would be extremely helpful. Thanks! Tim This made me LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
am19psu Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 This made me LOL I had the same reaction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newtownwx Posted July 5, 2012 Author Share Posted July 5, 2012 This made me LOL Haha, a bit counterintuitive I'd say. I thought everyone liked programming though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocoAko Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 I had the same reaction Yep. I know you already listed it, but when I was applying to graduate schools CSU was at the forefront of the cloud physics type stuff that I was interested in. If you're interested in coming to NJ, Rutgers does cloud physics research, with Dr. Mark Miller at the forefront of that (http://www.envsci.rutgers.edu/php/viewfaculty.php?id=110). Definitely contact him. Oh, and Oklahoma State doesn't have a meteorology program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newtownwx Posted July 5, 2012 Author Share Posted July 5, 2012 Thanks for the info guys, keep it coming. And Loco you got me, I meant to say OU! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtticaFanatica Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 At OU, Fedorovich does BL and Straka does microphysics. If you're interested in microphysical applications of radars (i.e., radar polarimetry), there's also Zhang, Bluestein, Ryzhkov, Zrnic. The latter two are at NSSL (same building), but still support OU students. If you're interested in a career in research, your research advisor is probably more important than the actual institution. Research is awesome. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catoctin wx Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 I went to Alabama-Huntsville in 2006 after graduating from Millersville. The program there is great and has a very wide variety of research areas. UAH is active in a number of cloud physics areas including the use of ground instrumentation and radar. If you want, send me a PM and I can give you the contact information for some of the PhD students who are down there (who I was in the Master's program with). As for location, Huntsville is a really nice city. It's not at all what you would expect of a city in Alabama (going by stereotypes). I was pleasantly suprised when I got down there the first time. The only drawback for me was that it was far from my family in NJ. Since they are so closely affilicated with NASA (the meteorology program is in the National Space Science and Technology Center) and the Army (Redstone Arsonal), there are a lot of contacts to be made. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxmanmitch Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Wherever you go to grad school in meteorology, make sure you know your math and your programming. For math, you should take courses through Linear Algebra and Partial Differential Equations (PDEs), even though they're not formally required for an undergrad meteorology degree. I went to Penn State and bolted after a semester since I was totally lost mathematically, particularly in the dynamics courses. I had only done the minimum math for the met major at Plymouth (Calc I, II, III, ODEs, and Stats). In my experience, you really need this extra math background for a heavily theoretical program like Penn State, Wisconsin-Madison, OU, or CSU. It is also helpful to know programming in FORTRAN and some scripting languages like shell and Perl. Python is becoming hot now, so it may not be a bad idea to become familiar with that. Other good meteorology specific scripting languages to know are GrADS and GEMPAK. I was always much more confident in programming so I was successful in getting an MS in Applied Meteorology from Plymouth. You're not really going to be doing any forecasting in grad school (maybe a little, if you'd like). It's mostly research and writing a thesis. Many grad students enter a program as a teaching assistant (TA) or a research assistant (RA), which provides them with a stipend and tuition waiver. Good luck with your applications! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
am19psu Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 It is also helpful to know programming in FORTRAN and some scripting languages like shell and Perl. Python is becoming hot now, so it may not be a bad idea to become familiar with that. Other good meteorology specific scripting languages to know are GrADS and GEMPAK. I was always much more confident in programming so I was successful in getting an MS in Applied Meteorology from Plymouth. At least at Penn State, GrADS/IDL and Matlab are the two biggies, followed by Perl and Fortran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radarman Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 There are really no wrong answers, but I'll throw my 2c in for McGill. Very cool place to live, and a prestigious history in sensors and clouds. Also, have many field programs in varied climates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radarman Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Wherever you go to grad school in meteorology, make sure you know your math and your programming. For math, you should take courses through Linear Algebra and Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) It is also helpful to know programming in FORTRAN and some scripting languages like shell and Perl. Python is becoming hot now, so it may not be a bad idea to become familiar with that. Other good meteorology specific scripting languages to know are GrADS and GEMPAK. I was always much more confident in programming so I was successful in getting an MS in Applied Meteorology from Plymouth. At least at Penn State, GrADS/IDL and Matlab are the two biggies, followed by Perl and Fortran Matlab simplifies the coding of matrix equations and PDEs, but as the op is interested in field deployments specifically, it is a bit unwieldy. Start with C and purchase some performance math libraries. Steeper curve, but worth it in the end for many reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocoAko Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Wherever you go to grad school in meteorology, make sure you know your math and your programming. For math, you should take courses through Linear Algebra and Partial Differential Equations (PDEs), even though they're not formally required for an undergrad meteorology degree. I went to Penn State and bolted after a semester since I was totally lost mathematically, particularly in the dynamics courses. I had only done the minimum math for the met major at Plymouth (Calc I, II, III, ODEs, and Stats). In my experience, you really need this extra math background for a heavily theoretical program like Penn State, Wisconsin-Madison, OU, or CSU. I'll be going in to OU with just the minimum math requirements and will be taking PDE as a co-req with Dynamics my first semester. Fun times ahead! I too have heard good things about McGill's program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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