The Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (MAS) graduate program is located within the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS). Research activities within SoMAS are coordinated through the Marine Sciences Research Center (MSRC), and the Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres (ITPA). MSRC is the center for research, graduate education, and public service in the marine sciences for the entire State University of New York system. SoMAS faculty have active research programs in all major oceanographic and atmospheric disciplines and many focus on interdisciplinary approaches to understanding environmental processes and issues. Specific areas of cross-disciplinary focus include: biogeochemical transformation of energy and elements, conservation and management of marine resources, environmental health and contaminants, environmental modeling and prediction, and patterns and impacts of global climate change.
SoMAS is ideally situated for studies of a variety of coastal environments including estuaries, lagoons, salt marshes, barrier islands, and continental shelf waters. Long Island has a greater diversity of coastal environments in a limited geographical range than any other comparable area in the United States. The proximity of New York City and the burgeoning population of Long Island and Connecticut make New York coastal waters an excellent laboratory for assessing human impacts on the coastal seas, and understanding land/sea interactions at all levels. In addition to working on coastal issues, SoMAS scientists have active research programs on all the world's oceans and ITPA faculty examine atmospheric processes on the Earth and other planets.
SoMAS offers an M.A. in Marine Conservation and Policy and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Marine and Atmospheric Sciences with concentrations in either oceanography or atmospheric sciences. Interested students should address inquiries to the graduate program director. Tuition scholarships and stipends are available for students in the research based M.S. and Ph.D. programs.
SoMAS also offers an accelerated B.S./M.S. program allowing high achieving Stony Brook undergraduate students in the Marine Sciences (MAR), Marine Vertebrate Biology (MVB), Atmospheric Sciences (ATM), and a B.A./M.A. with the Environmental Studies (ENS) B.A.. Program to allow student to begin working on their masters degree prior to completing their bachelors degree, allowing up to 12 credits of course work to count towards both degrees.
Ph.D. Program in Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
The Ph.D. program is designed to prepare students to independently identify and attack oceanographic and atmospheric problems. It builds on a series of core required courses (taken by both PhD and M.S. students), and allows students to create their own course of advanced study, helping them to become effective, independent problem solvers. The Ph.D. in Marine and Atmospheric Sciences prepares students to compete effectively for academic positions, direct research programs at government or private laboratories, and direct research and assessment programs at non-governmental organizations. A M.S. degree is not required for admission to the Ph.D. program. Most students take 5 to 6 years to complete their Ph.D.
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