Our classes are small and are taught by professors renowned in their field. They bring their research and experience into the classroom, ensuring an enriching and encouraging educational environment. Within the Department of Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences, you'll find a great mix of environmental scientists, marine biologists and marine conservationists, oceanographers, meteorologists and ocean engineers—all ready to guide and support you along your academic journey.

A program in meteorology requires top-notch facilities. At Florida Tech, a dedicated meteorology lab gives students access to a professional meteorological data stream. You’ll also find high-tech ocean engineering and science laboratories that provide facilities and instrumentation for beach surveying, the measurement and analysis of water waves and more.

The F.W. Olin Engineering Complex, a 70,000-square-foot facility, is furnished with specialized research and teaching laboratories and a 145-seat auditorium.  The Ralph S. Evinrude Marine Operations Center gives students and faculty direct access to the Indian River Lagoon.

Florida Tech’s 130-acre campus is located on the Space Coast (so named because of the presence of NASA-Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral just north of us), minutes away from the Indian River Lagoon, a biodiverse estuarine ecosystem.

The area has hundreds of high-tech corporations and government and military organizations located nearby. This workforce provides abundant internship and employment opportunities.

Florida Tech is just over the causeway from the Atlantic Ocean, with its 72 miles of beautiful beaches, and a short trip to Orlando theme parks or the Florida Keys.

Florida is the lightning capital of the world (!), and the area experiences subtropical thunderstorms each year, occurring 47% of the time there’s precipitation. There is a high probability of rain through the year with the most rain between late April and early October—but don’t expect many days to be a total washout! In Melbourne we average over 230 sunny days every year. Students might also get a chance to study hurricanes, as the region has often been in the path of a major storm or its associated weather.

Beyond the classroom, meteorology majors build leadership and professional experience through participation in academic organizations such as the American Meteorological Society (AMS), an organization focused on advancing weather, water and climate science and service. Our student chapter takes trips to the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center, national AMS conferences and more.

Student government, intramural and collegiate sports and over 200 other campus-wide student organizations provide many more opportunities to get involved.

Florida Tech students have access to the local National Weather Service site, the 45th Weather Squadron and NASA-Kennedy Space Center to gain direct industry experience through meteorology internships.

Internship placements have also included:

• NASA Langley Research Center
• NASA Short-Term Prediction Research and Transition Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center
• Boeing
• EPCOT
• Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
• Army Corps of Engineers

More ways meteorology students gain experience:

• "Green screen" broadcast opportunities in a professional environment from a wide variety of stations in the Melbourne market.
• Opportunities from the National Weather Service for students, alongside WFIT, Florida Tech’s radio station and NPR affiliate.

Most professionals with a meteorology degree work in weather stations, laboratories, weather broadcasting companies and field efforts related to changing weather patterns.

The meteorology B.S. curriculum aligns closely with specifications from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for the hiring of meteorologists by the National Weather Service. A student who completes specific coursework within the major is eligible to be certified as a professional meteorologist by the American Meteorological Society and OPM and is thus qualified for entry into positions in NOAA National Weather Service, NASA and the U.S. Armed Forces.

Beyond the U.S., meteorology careers are truly global. The World Meteorological Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that has nearly 200 member states, each of which has national meteorological or hydrometeorological services. And, of course, each of these involves meteorology careers.