Space Weather and Environment: Science, Policy and Communication (SWEN)
Graduate Certificate or Master of Science in Integrated Scientific Applications
The Department of Earth Sciences offers two fully online graduate options in Space Weather and Environment (SWEN). Graduate students may opt for our graduate certificate that consists of 5 courses (15 credit hours) or students may decide to earn an M.S. in Integrated Scientific Applications by taking an additional five courses offered within our MS ISA or M.S. Emergency Management curricula.
Space Weather and Environment: Science, Policy and Communication (SWEN) is appropriate for a wide-range of professional interests including broadcast meteorologists and other weather-casters, emergency responders, military personnel, federal and state policy advisors, legislative assistants, science journalists, and any professional whose career may be enhanced with a greater understanding of this subject area. Guided by the National Space Policy of the United States of America, this program is an avenue for professional development and advancement for those seeking to deepen and broaden their knowledge-base and understanding of the Earth-Sun-Space environment as well as the impact space weather can have on infrastructure, communication and commerce.
WHY STUDY THIS PROGRAM?
If you are responsible for communication and power grids, transportation systems, navigation systems including space-based assets, commerce, and other infrastructure, this program is for you. Additionally, this program will assist individuals to be better prepared to communicate these issues to policy-makers, stakeholders and the public. The international scope of the SWEN will help prepare individuals for positions in the government, private, commercial and academic sectors. The program should be especially interesting for broadcast meteorologists who are seeking to gain knowledge and proficiency in space weather to better communicate to their market audience.
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?
Those who have completed the SWEN program will possess the ability to:
- Demonstrate base knowledge of natural or environmental hazards, including space weather hazards and associated risks;
- Describe solar and space weather phenomena, including but not limited to: aurora, coronal holes, coronal mass ejections (CME), solar flares, sunspots, solar cycle, geomagnetic storms, characteristics of the magnetosphere, and behavior of the interaction between different elements;
- Relate impacts of space weather phenomena to existing and emerging fields, including the variety of customers and operations most vulnerable;
- Organize existing protocols and design new protocols for preparing and responding to space weather events;
- Describe and apply the products, data and graphics to communicate for specific space weather events; and
- Develop new video products that will communicate space weather to specific audiences – a capstone experience.
Admission Requirements
Applicants must provide an official transcript from all institutions of higher education attended showing completion of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution with a minimum of a 2.75/4.00 cumulative grade point average. Applicants with grade point averages less than 3.00 must also submit an official score from the GRE, GMAT, or MAT test taken within three years of the date of application. An official application form and fee, three professional letters of recommendation, an academic and professional goals statement, and a current resume are also required. Applicants may also be asked to complete a telephone interview with the MSISA program coordinator.
For questions, please contact Dr. Lynn Marquez (lynn.marquez@millersville.edu)
Graduate Certificate in Space Weather and Environment
-
Faculty
Mike cook, M.s.
Mike has worked in Space Weather since 2017 when he started his career at the DoD Space Weather Operations Center. He spent two years as a Space Weather Lead while working there before joining the Space Radiation Analysis Group at NASA Johnson Space Center. He joined SRAG as a research scientist, working in Space Weather and International Space Station operations for two and a half years.
Mike joined the MITRE Corporation in 2022 as a Space Weather SME. He is extremely passionate about Space Weather Operations, Communications, Policy and Outreach. He earned his B.S. in Meteorology from Millersville University and his M.S. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota.
jinni meehan, ph.d
Jinni is a key contributor in providing the coordination needed to ensure a Space-Weather-Ready Nation: building a Nation ready, responsive, and resilient to space weather.
Jinni is the National Space Weather Program Manager for the Analyze, Forecast and Support Office at National Weather Service (NWS) headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. Jinni manages one of the 11 service programs of the NWS, space weather, and serves as a space weather subject matter expert on behalf of the NWS. Within her agency, she directly advises NWS and NOAA leadership on space weather topics.
Jinni works directly with NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center on issues related to global, national, regional, and local policy, products, and services to leverage resources and support forecast consistency. She also leads a service product team that evaluates the field requirements that impact the way NWS communicates space weather information to core partners, the space weather enterprise, and the general public.
She serves as a member of several teams, committees, review panels, and interagency technical committees as well as the Executive Secretary that manages all activity within the White House Space Weather Operations, Research, and Mitigation (SWORM) Subcommittee - composed of 34 different federal departments, agencies, and offices.
Tamitha Mulligan skov, ph.d
Dr. Mulligan Skov works actively in the fields of solar and space physics, focusing on space weather phenomena such as coronal mass ejections, solar flares, solar energetic particles, and galactic cosmic rays. She is particularly concerned with the effects these phenomena have on space assets in near-Earth space, the effects on satellite and emergency radio communication, GPS/GNSS signal reception through the ionosphere, and the effects of induced currents at ground level.
Her forecasting work as the “Space Weather Woman” is widely known on social media such as You Tube, Twitter, and Facebook. She has been featured in Popular Science Magazine, in MIT Technology Review, and on television shows for The Weather Channel and The History Channel. She makes regular appearances on TMRO.TV for Space News and TwiT TV for Ham Nation, doing space weather forecasts under her amateur radio callsign WX6SWW.