The Daily Mining Gazette - Published: Saturday, December 16, 2006 Print Article | Close Window MTU gets initial nod for new Ph.D program By Kayla Gahagan DMG Writer HOUGHTON — For all intents and purposes, Michigan Tech University already has an atmospheric sciences program, said assistant professor Raymond Shaw. By fall, it just might be official. The Board of Control, Tech’s governing body, met Friday and gave preliminary approval for a new Ph.D program in atmospheric science. Shaw, who works in the physics department, said it has been a long process to get this far, beginning four or five years ago. “We have about 10 faculty members working on projects dealing with the Earth’s atmosphere, and we are already working together,” he said. He said for that reason, it is “truly interdisciplinary,” the kind of projects the BOC applauds. Several different departments whose disciplines overlapped into the area of atmospheric sciences, began meeting about five years ago, he said. “We have a world class atmospheric science program just by accident,” he said, through the mixing of departments including physics, environmental engineering, geology. “Gathering us together and making it formal is only added value.” If the proposal, which must be submitted to the State Board of Academic Officers and then returned to the BOC for final approval, gets passed, students could be enrolling as soon as fall of 2007. “It will allow us to attract students that are interested in atmospheric science,” he said. “For the students already here, it will give them more interaction with students studying it.” BOC member Ruth Reck said atmospheric science is becoming a more well-known field. “People are bothered by change in weather,” she said. “If (the students) focus on local weather, it becomes even more important. There’s so many aspects of it. It really involves global climate change.” Shaw said the scope of the knowledge students can receive is large. “It’s from forecasting the weather to understanding global climate change,” he said. “It’s from ‘Will it rain at tomorrow’s parade’ to ‘Will Greendland’s ice sheets melt?’” He said Tech will be one of the first schools in the state to have a Ph.D program offered in the field. “The only other graduate program I know of is at the University of Michigan and of course that’s a much larger university,” he said. Currently, graduate students studying atmospheric sciences can earn degrees in areas such as physics or environmental engineering. Shaw said about 15 students are pursuing degrees that involve the atmospheric sciences. “That was before we had a formal program in place,” he said. “We’re hoping that will increase.” Kayla Gahagan can be reached at kgahagan@mininggazette.com