The Atmospheric Science graduate program at CSU is consistently ranked among the best in the United States, and this is in no small part due to our excellent students. Students are generally admitted to the Masters program (which is a pre-requisite for the PhD program, unless they have a comparable MS degree from another institution). Most of our class is admitted for the Fall semester (applications due in January), but applications are also accepted for the Spring semester. Students are matched to a faculty advisor upon admission to the program and are generally supported via a Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) funded by faculty research projects. Our department offers a wide range of graduate courses in the fundamentals of Atmospheric Science. Atmospheric Science is inherently mutli-disciplinary so students in our program come from a variety of backgrounds in the physical sciences, including physics, chemistry, engineering, meteorology or mathematics. There is no specific degree requirement for admission to our program beyond a solid math background. While both experience with programming and a chemistry background can be an asset in our group, these are things that can be learned "on the job" in the course of your graduate research. You can find information on applying to our program here.
If you are interested in joining the Atmospheric Composition and Chemistry group, please contact Prof. Colette Heald to discuss upcoming projects. You can read through our Research page to get a sense of current research topics. Information on graduate fellowships in the US can be found on the links page.
Prospective Postdocs/Researchers:
We are always looking for talented, motivated researchers to join our group at CSU. Individuals with experience in modeling and/or the interpretation of satellite observations are a particular asset to the group. Opportunities are generally advertised through word-of-mouth or the met-jobs list. If you will be completing your PhD in the coming year and would be interested in discussing opportunities in our group, you are encouraged to contact Colette Heald early in your search.
There are some limited opportunities for postdoctoral fellowships in the US, see the links page for more details on these.
A Few Words on Location...
Colorado State University is located in Fort Collins, Colorado, along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. We are an hour north of Denver (where you can find the closest international airport). Fort Collins is a small city (population ~130,000 and growing). Our historic "Old Town" (the inspiration for Disney World's Main Street) is the center of the city's cultural activities and the site of numerous outdoor festivals in the summer. Fort Collins is at an altitude of ~5000 feet and the climate is mostly dry and sunny. Our claim to fame is being named "Best Place to Live" in the US by Money Magazine in 2006! (we dropped to #2 in 2008 to everyone's chagrin). Wikipedia can provide more information on Fort Collins.