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News

NSM program's fate is in the air

New graduate degree plan awaits approval by the state, but program is already working to fight air pollution

by SHANNAH LEDEE
The Daily Cougar

If all goes as the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics plans, students will no longer have to transfer to other Texas universities to work on finding solutions to Houston's air pollution. 

In an effort to attract students interested in monitoring Houston's air quality, NSM will offer a new Ph.D. program in atmospheric science in the fall. "Nationally, Houston is recognized for its air quality," Ph.D. candidate Craig Clements said. "So hopefully, as the program gets more established and more well-known with graduates, students will seek UH to study air quality."

Clements is pursuing a Ph.D. in atmospheric science and said that the program will help the University to become more involved in solving Houston's air pollution.

Under the current curricula, graduate students may work toward a higher degree in atmospheric sciences, although the program is not officially recognized.

The program has yet to be approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in Austin, which authorizes academic programs in Texas. 

NSM Associate Dean Ian Evans expects to hear from the board in the fall to find out if students such as Clements will receive a degree in atmospheric science instead of geophysics, the degree students will receive if the program is not approved.

"The irony is, of course, whether it is or isn't approved, the course work that's being taught and the research that's going on is going on regardless of whether the program is approved," Evans said. "For obvious reasons, it's important that it's approved."

Though the college won't hear from the Coordinating Board until September, Evans doesn't expect to encounter much difficulty.

"If they reject it, it's usually because it's a budget concern," he said. 

But Evans said he doubts the board will reject the proposal on those grounds since the program is already partially established. 

"The critical mass at work for the program is already in place. In terms of new expenses, they would ultimately be minimum," he said. "We're not asking Austin for money. We're asking for permission." 

In the meantime, however, the college is going ahead with its plan by hiring and enticing more faculty.

"We're in the process of hiring a meteorologist," Barry Lefer, associate professor of geosciences, said. "In terms of long-range, we hope to include a specialist in aerosol chemistry and another in tropical meteorology who specializes in hurricanes."
 

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