Overview

Students learn how to forecast the weather and how to understand climate change. The emphasis of the Bachelor of Science degree program in Meteorology from Rutgers University is on developing a broad understanding of the fundamental physical and dynamic processes governing the motions and behavior of the atmosphere, and its interactions with the underlying land and ocean surfaces. Basic courses in chemistry, physics, and mathematics are the prerequisite foundation on which the meteorology program is built. Students who wish to pursue an undergraduate meteorology degree should have a strong high school or equivalent background in mathematics and the sciences prior to enrollment. This is the only program in New Jersey that meets all the U.S. federal government civil service requirements for classification as a meteorologist and the American Meteorological Society's recommendations for undergraduate meteorology programs.

Program Learning Goals

A successful Meteorology graduate will be able to:

• Conduct a weather discussion and apply diagnostic, prognostic, and technological tools to evaluate atmospheric processes across a multitude of scales.
• Demonstrate integrated understanding of the linked Earth–atmosphere–ocean–cryosphere–biosphere system, including the roles of atmospheric chemistry and human impacts on the system.
• Apply critical and analytical thinking to solve relevant scientific problems in both individual and collaborative settings.
• Effectively communicate scientific information orally and in writing, including by electronic means, at an appropriate level for their audience.
• Demonstrate mastery of the mathematical and physical foundations of meteorology and climatology as well as key atmospheric processes that occur at a variety of spatial and temporal scales.
• Understand and utilize the principles of proper ethical behavior within the atmospheric sciences and be aware of the scientific limits of prediction.