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Academic Catalog

Climate Science

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2025-2026 Edition

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Department of Geography

Climate science is inherently interdisciplinary, involving both the physical and biological sciences. However, there is flexibility within the minor for some specialization, depending on the student’s major interests. Climatologists come from the ranks of geologists, oceanographers, geographers, biologists, chemists, physicists, and meteorologists. The commonality among these disparate fields is that they all inform us about the earth’s ability to absorb and radiate energy, and the way atmospheric processes play out across the earth’s surface. This minor would serve students who might be going on to graduate work in on  of the subfields of climatology or those who wish to be more informed in ongoing debates about climate change.

Minor Requirements

Sixteen to eighteen (16-18) credits. 

Course List
Code Title Credits
GEOG 110Introduction to Weather and Climate4
GEOG 325Dynamic Climatology3
GEOG 327Climate Change3
or EESC 355 Icehouse-Greenhouse Earth
Select two or more courses of the following: 16-8
BIOL 210
Introduction to Ecology and Evolution
EESC 112
Evolution of Earth
EESC 121
Oceanography
EESC 230
Global Environmental Problems
EESC 325
Environmental Geochemistry
GEOG 111
Landform Processes
GEOG 245
Environment and Society
GEOG 326
Glacial Processes and Landscapes
PHYS 201
Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
Total Credits16-18
1

Totaling at least six (6) credits, and at least one course at the 300-level.

Geography Faculty

Melina A. Patterson, Chair
Dawn S. Bowen, Career Advisor

Professors

Dawn S. Bowen
Caitlin C. Finlayson
Stephen P. Hanna
Farhang Rouhani

Associate Professors

Jacqueline Gallagher
Marco Millones Mayer
Joseph W. Nicholas
Melina A. Patterson
Ping Yin

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