Graduate Program - UD Department of Geography

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Graduate Degree Programs M.S./M.A. in Geography Ph.D. in Climatology
Masters in Geography
Master of Arts (MA) and Science (MS) degree programs in Geography prepare students (1) for occupations in several aspects of Geography or (2) for more advanced studies at the Ph.D. level. The Masters programs give students the opportunity to study specific areas of Geography in depth. Typical focus areas include: Climatology; Land Surface Processes; Human, Cultural, and Environmental Geography; Geographic Education; and Geographic Methods (such as geographic information system, data analysis). Masters students at Delaware benefit from close interaction with both faculty and each other. Cooperation among the Geography Department and several other University departments and colleges (e.g., the College of Human Resources, Education and Public Policy, and the College of Marine and Earth Studies) also provides Masters students with excellent interdisciplinary opportunities.

Admission to the Masters Programs
Completion of a Bachelors degree in Geography or other closely related discipline with a grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.75. A combined score of at least 1050 on the Quantitative and Verbal Sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Strong letters of recommendation from at least three former professors or supervisors. Students applying for the MS program additionally are expected to have a basic, university-level background in science and quantitative analysis. Prospective students who do not have an appropriate bachelors degree or who have other deficiencies, may be admitted on a provisional basis. Once assigned provisions have been satisfied or remedial work completed a student will be granted full admission to the appropriate Masters program.

Guidelines for the Masters Programs
Master of Arts (MA) and Science (MS) students are expected to develop an in-depth knowledge of at least one substantive area as well as an appreciation for Geography's main themes. Mentioned above, Masters students usually focus on Climatology; Land Surface Processes; Human, Cultural, and Environmental Geography; or Geographic Education. Students also are encouraged to develop facility with geographic methods. For MS students, this typically involves a mix of course work in mathematics, statistics and computational methods. Each student's program, nevertheless, is tailored to support his or her interests within Geography. As the MA and MS programs are flexible (to accommodate students' interests), it is most important that students meet regularly with an advisor to plan their program and evaluate their progress.
Masters students are ordinarily enrolled for at least two continuous years beyond the bachelors degree, although thesis research sometimes requires an effort beyond two years. Most students take at least half of their course work within the Department and complementary courses in allied disciplines. A minimum of 24 graduate-level course-credit hours are required. A masters thesis also is required and students earn six graduate credits upon its completion. Thirty graduate credits are acquired in this way and this is the minimum number needed for graduation. It additionally is every Masters student's obligation to present a public lecture in the Department on aspects of his or her thesis research.


Ph.D. in Climatology

Development of a strong climatology focus within the Department of Geography over the past two decades has provided the foundation for our Ph.D. Program in Climatology. The aim of the Program is to provide a sound scientific training for students interested in (1) working in business, industry or government or (2) becoming university or college-level teachers and researchers. The Ph.D. Program is fundamentally quantitative, and the overriding emphasis is upon the understanding, development and use of analytical, numerical, and statistical analogues to climate. Emphasis also is placed on climatic processes that occur at or near the earth-atmosphere interface, from the micro- to global scale.

Admission to the Ph.D. Program
A student must meet the following minimum requirements in order to be considered for admission to the program:
Completion of a Master's Degree in Geography, Climatology, Meteorology, Environmental Science or other closely related discipline with a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.25. A combined score of at least 1100 on the Quantitative and Verbal sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Completion of mathematics through ordinary differential equations. Demonstrated knowledge of at least one higher-level computer programming language (Fortran is preferred). Strong letters of recommendation from at least three former professors or supervisors.
Applicants who do not hold an appropriate master's degree, but who desire to work for the Ph.D. in Climatology, must apply for admission to the M.S. Program in Geography. Upon satisfactory completion of the M.S. in Geography, assuming all of the other minimum requirements (described above) have been satisfied, a student will be admitted to the Ph.D. program.

Guidelines for the Ph.D. Program
Ph.D. students in Climatology will be expected to obtain an in-depth knowledge in two substantive areas. One of these must be topical, e.g., hydroclimatology, synoptic climatology, physical climatology, climate dynamics, paleoclimatology, or microclimatology, and the other must be methodological, e.g., statistical methods, mathematics or computer science. Each student's program will be individually tailored to his or her interests. All students also are expected to have a broad overview of Climatology which will be considered a third area for examination purposes.
Students are expected to be in residence (enrolled full-time) at least two continuous years beyond the Master's degree, although completion of the dissertation may require an additional one to two years. Ph.D. students should plan to spend about one third of their program on climatologically-related course work, one third on methodological course work and one third on their dissertation. Up to one half of a student's courses may be taken in Geography. All other courses must be taken within the following Departments and Colleges: Agricultural Engineering, Entomology, Plant Science, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Computer and Information Science, Geology, Mathematical Sciences, Physics, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Marine Studies.
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