BS - Meteorology

What is a Meteorology degree?

Meteorology at Florida Tech isn't just about the weather. Here, students study the effects of the Earth's atmosphere on human life, and the effect of humankind on the climate. Whether you want to become a broadcast meteorologist, storm tracker or world weather expert, you can get there with a meteorology degree from Florida Tech. Here, you'll develop a strong background in physics and chemistry and get hands-on experience in environmental science and applied technology.

Our meteorology degree program is dynamic and focused. You'll get started right away, taking core courses like the whole earth course and aviation meteorology as a freshman. Guided by highly accomplished faculty who care about your success, you'll hone your strengths and begin specializing as early as sophomore year. Students are offered the opportunity to complete in-depth field studies and summer research.

Advantages

Why Florida Tech: The meteorology degree at Florida Tech includes:

• Learn within a dynamic and interesting weather system
• Nearby Atlantic Ocean and other marine environments
• Undergrads often involved in faculty research initiatives
• Hands-on experience with high-tech instruments
• Interdisciplinary approach = experience employers look for
• Renowned meteorology faculty

The Numbers: Meteorology degree and DMES classes are kept small (13-15 students in sophomore\, junior\, and senior level courses),The Department of Marine and Environmental Systems has 15 full-time faculty\, all with Ph.D.s

Facilities: Florida Tech has marine laboratories and field research sites both on the Indian River Lagoon and at the Vero Beach oceanfront marine research facility. The Ralph S. Evinrude Marine Operations Center houses a fleet of small craft. Small boats are available for class work and research, and scuba diving can be incorporated in research and course work. Other teaching facilities include a computer-aided design center, and numberical modeling and computer facilities for data analysis. The Marine Geology and Geophysics Laboratory provides facilities for core boring and sediment analysis, beach and hydrographic surveying, and oceanographic instrumentation for coastal research activities. The Underwater Technologies Laboratory has a 500-square-foot electronic workship with all of the systems necessary to design and maintain autonomous underwater vehicles. In the Surf Mechanics Laboratory, students have access to two wave tanks for theoretical and experimental measuring of water waves.

Learning

Clubs and Organizations: American Meteorological Society,Florida Tech Sailing Club,Florida Tech Diving Club,Florida Tech Surfing Club,Marine Technology Society,Sigma Xi (Scientific Research Society)

Research: Every meteorology degree undergraduate has the opportunity to work with professors on funded research projects. Recent science and engineering projects include: the design and construction of a 30-foot high-speed research boat, a 30-by-20 twin hull research platform and a boat-mounted underwater camera testing of antifouling coatings instrumentation system design for waves and weather artificial reef designs and monitoring ocean instrumentation development lightning and thunderstorm forecasting the study of: tsunami wave inundation, harmful algal blooms, sediment transport and beach erosion, Earth remote sensing, and the Coastal Ocean Observing System (COOS)

Internships and Cooperative Learning: Students majoring in oceanography, ocean engineering, meteorology and environmental science at Florida Tech are able to choose from a variety of hands-on internships. Undergraduates have recently completed internships at:

• American Airlines
• Brevard County Natural Resource Management
• Caribbean Marine Research Center
• Disney World's The Living Seas
• Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University
• Florida Department of Environmental Protection
• Mote Marine Laboratory
• National Park Service
• National Weather Service, Melbourne Forecast Office
• NASA's Kennedy Space Center
• NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and meteorological Laboratory
• Sea World
• Sierra Club
• Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce
• St. John's River Water Management District
• Army Corps of Engineers

Future Outcomes

Outcomes - Grad School: 20% of meteorology degree and DMES graduates go directly onto graduate school, many of them continuing their studies at Florida Tech. Recent graduates have also been enrolled at:

• MIT
• Stockton
• University of Alaska
• University of Rhode Island
• University of North Carolina
• Cambridge University (UK)

Outcomes - Career and Salary: Meteorology degree DMES graduates are employed all over the world, in a variety of exciting positions. Most are employed as research scientists and coastal and oceanographic engineers for government and private companies. Employers of DMES alumni include:

• Rockwell Aviation
• Northrop Grumman
• Dynamac
• Boeing
• Epcot Center
• U.S. Environmental Protection Avency
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• NASA
• National Science Foundation
• Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Curriculum

Curriculum program plans shown reflect current degree requirements. Previous academic year requirements can be accessed from the catalog page by choosing the appropriate academic year.

Print

Bachelor of Science in Meteorology

Major Code:	7224	Degree Awarded:	Bachelor of Science
Delivery Mode(s):	Classroom	Location(s):	Main Campus - Melbourne
Admission Status:	Undergraduate	Age Restriction:	No

Meteorology is a joint program between the College of Engineering, College of Science and College of Aeronautics, administered by the environmental sciences program. A related degree program in aviation meteorology is offered by the College of Aeronautics.

Candidates for a bachelor’s degree in meteorology complete a minimum of 133 credit hours as outlined below. A student completing at least 24 credit hours including MET 3401, MET 3402, MET 4233, MET 4305, MET 4306, SPS 4030, and six credit hours from among AVS 3201, ENS 3101, MET 4310 and OCN 3401, is eligible to be certified as a professional meteorologist by the American Meteorological Society and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and is thus qualified for entry into positions in NOAA National Weather Service, NASA and the U.S. Armed Forces.

Freshman Year

FALL		CREDITS
ASC 1000	University Experience	1
CHM 1101	General Chemistry 1	4
COM 1101	Composition and Rhetoric	3
ENS 1001	The Whole Earth Course	3
MTH 1001	Calculus 1	4
		15

SPRING		CREDITS
AVS 1201	Aviation Meteorology	3
CHM 1102	General Chemistry 2	4
MTH 1002	Calculus 2	4
PHY 1001	Physics 1	4
PHY 2091	Physics Lab 1	1
		16

Sophomore Year

FALL		CREDITS
COM 1102	Writing about Literature	3
MTH 2001	Calculus 3	4
PHY 2002	Physics 2	4
PHY 2092	Physics Lab 2	1
	Restricted Elective (CSE)	3
		15

SPRING		CREDITS
COM 2223	Scientific and Technical Communication	3
HUM 2051	Civilization 1	3
MTH 2201	Differential Equations/Linear Algebra	4
OCN 2407	Meteorology	3
PHY 2003	Modern Physics	3
		16

Junior Year

FALL		CREDITS
ENS 3101	Atmospheric Environments	3
MET 3401	Synoptic Meteorology 1	3
MTH 2401	Probability and Statistics	3
OCN 3430	Fundamentals of Geophysical Fluids	3
OCN 3433	Geophysical Fluids Lab	1
PHY 3060	Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory and Statistical Mechanics	4
		17

SPRING		CREDITS
ENS 3105	Atmospheric Pollution Laboratory	1
ENS 3911	Environmental Field Projects Proposal (Q)	1
MET 3402	Synoptic Meteorology 2	3
SPS 4030	Physics of the Atmosphere	3
	Humanities Core Course*	3
	Restricted Elective (ENS, COM, MET, MTH, OCN)	3
	Technical Elective	3
		17

SUMMER		CREDITS
ENS 4911	Environmental Field Projects 1 (Q)	1
ENS 4912	Environmental Field Projects 2 (Q)	2
ENS 4913	Environmental Field Projects 3 (Q)	3
		6

 Senior Year

FALL		CREDITS
ENS 4700	Environmental Hydrology	3
MET 4233	Remote Sensing for Meteorology	3
MET 4305	Atmospheric Dynamics 1	3
OCN 3401	Physical Oceanography	3
OCN 3411	Physical Oceanography Lab	1
	Humanities Elective	3
		16

SPRING		CREDITS
MET 4306	Atmospheric Dynamics 2	3
MET 4310	Climatology	3
	Social Science Elective	3
	Technical Elective	3
	Free Elective	3
		15

TOTAL CREDITS REQUIRED 133

*Humanities Core Courses
HUM 2052	Civilization 2: Renaissance Through Modern
HUM 2142	World Art History 2: Early Modern to Post-Colonial
HUM 2212	British and American Literature 1
HUM 2213	British and American Literature 2
HUM 2331	American History: Pre-Columbian to Civil War Era
HUM 2332	American History: From Reconstruction to the Present

Not all humanities core courses are offered online or every term; check the current schedule of classes for humanities core options.