Strategic Plan SP 2030

For more information about the strategic plan of the school please click here.

Overview

The School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma is the largest such program in the nation, with approximately 250 undergraduate and nearly 90 graduate students. The School is routinely ranked near the top of the nation in terms of undergraduate awards, such as the annual number of undergraduate scholarships awarded from the NOAA Hollings and American Meteorological Society (AMS) programs.  For example, our students received 7 of the 23 Named Scholarships of the AMS.  Our graduate students are also quite successful in competing for awards with a Blue Water and Marshall Sherfield Fellowship among the top honors. Our students have received numerous best poster and best oral presentation awards at recent conferences and symposium.

The School has established exchanges with the University of Reading in the UK, Monash University in Australia, and Hamburg University in Germany. Recent linkages have also been established with Kyoto University in Japan and Nanjing University in China. These exchanges and the presence of these international students give our program an international feel in the middle of Oklahoma. Our undergraduate students have opportunities to travel abroad for these programs in their junior year, and our graduate students have several opportunities to participate in international conferences and exchanges.

The undergraduate and graduate programs are unique due to our co-location with NOAA, Department of Interior, and Department of Energy programs as well as several university strategic organizations, which broaden the education, training and research portfolio of the School. The graduate program is selective with an admission process based on a holistic look at the applicant’s academic abilities and accomplishments, references, awards, research experience and fit to our research funding. We typically offer between 15-24 Teaching and Research Assistantships in the program each year. The School of Meteorology is generally considered at or near the top spot for graduate research on convective storms, radar, and mesoscale meteorology. The School, however, has developed a broad research portfolio in recent years through the addition of new faculty giving us excellent researchers in climate, polar processes and atmospheric chemistry including tropospheric-stratospheric exchanges.

Our Facilities

The School of Meteorology is located on the 5th floor of the National Weather Center on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. The 244,000-square-foot building opened its doors in September 2006. One of the largest facilities of its kind in the world, it houses 12 University, state, and federal organizations with more than 650 employees, faculty, researchers, and students. The center accommodates OU’s academic and research programs in meteorology and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Norman-based weather research and operations programs. The National Weather Center Protocol can be found here: http://www.ou.edu/content/dam/AGS/documents/NWC_Protocol_Final_2019.pdf

 

Technology Resources

The School of Meteorology has an IT specialist who helps the School cover the hardware and software needs of our students and faculty. The School maintains several computing labs and other technological resources for students including the exciting and state-of-the-art Oklahoma Weather Laboratory, which includes a broadcast link to OU Nightly.  In addition, Research Computing Services provides information technology services to the National Weather Center, the College of A&GS, and other organizations on the University of Oklahoma Research Campus.

School of Meteorology History

The history of the School of Meteorology is outlined here.