About Us

Atmospheric Science is a group within the Department of Environmental Sciences. The overall mission of the atmospheric science group is to increase knowledge of the physical, chemical, and biological processes that govern atmospheric behavior and are important in determining weather and climate. Research, both basic and applied, is central to this goal.  Of equal importance are the educational efforts through the Undergraduate Program in Meteorology and the Graduate Program in Atmospheric Science, and outreach to the community of stakeholders whose lives are impacted by weather and climate.

The Atmospheric Science Group maintains a vigorous, externally funded research program with specific areas of interest including causes and mechanisms of past, present, and future climate change, specific potential anthropogenic impacts from nuclear war or climate intervention (also called geoengineering), storm prediction, clouds, radiation, aerosols, ocean-atmosphere and land-atmosphere interactions.  Numerical modeling is an important element of the group’s research.  To this end, we conduct regional- to global-scale modeling, using a diversity of modeling frameworks, to diagnose and interpret atmospheric processes affecting weather and climate.  We bring in more than $2,000,000 per year in external funding, despite our small size.  We conduct regional-scale and global-scale modeling, to study global climate change, and investigate how these global processes affect our regional climate.  Of the 65 members of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the leading research universities in the United States and Canada, Rutgers is one of only 24 to offer an undergraduate program in atmospheric science, placing us in a relatively select group.  We are committed to improve the quality and vitality of the undergraduate, graduate, and research environments while increasing our service to the state of New Jersey and maintaining our current program strengths.