Quantifying and understanding past, current and future climate change requires research that develops, refines, and applies state-of-the-art methods and tools to observe and model processes across a range of spatial and temporal scales that govern atmospheric circulation, weather, climate, and air quality. Accomplishing this demands a sustained, diverse, and highly trained community of researchers.
The PSU Center for Climate and Aerosol Research REU program in climate and atmospheric sciences works towards the goal of investing in a sustained and diverse atmospheric science research community. Each year for the past six years, this program has supported 10 undergraduate students in conducting atmospheric science research during an intensive 10-week summer program with mentorship from an interdisciplinary team of PSU faculty advisors.
Student REU experiences include: in-depth training in climate and atmospheric sciences, mentoring and professional development, independent research projects, presentations at symposia and conferences. Students in the CCAR REU develop technical skills in the laboratory, in data analysis, with instrumentation, in computer programming, and in the field.