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Broadcast Meteorology Major (B.S.)

  • Prepares students for careers as broadcast meteorologists.
  • Career opportunities with the National Weather Service, the private sector (including jobs with agriculture and energy industries, insurance agencies, and others), and federal and non-federal agencies.
  • Prepares students for advanced specialized training and education at the graduate level, including graduate education in broadcast meteorology.
  • Meets all academic requirements of the American Meteorological Society’s Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Program
  • Fulfills the all requirements of American Meteorological Society’s expectations for a general B.S. in meteorology

Admissions Information

Degree Requirements

Major code BS3339

Faculty Contact: Dr. Harold Perkins

Program Overview

The broadcast meteorology major at Ohio University is an innovative program housed in the Geography Department, pairing the coursework and training of a traditional meteorology degree with the most robust and broad journalism curriculum in the nation for such a major. 

Students are required to take all of the physical science and mathematics courses required for the American Meteorological Society approved Certified Broadcast Meteorology Program, as well as the traditional meteorology major requirements, while also completing a comprehensive series of journalism, broadcast, and communications courses.

All Broadcast Meteorology majors receive forecasting and broadcast experience in association with the award winning WOUB-TV and will be prepared to become strong science reporters, broadening the scope of careers for which they will be well-qualified. Many past students have completed internships at news stations, and there is a strong history of placing graduates into broadcast meteorologist positions immediately after graduation.

Both the Geography Department and the College of Journalism are committed to excellence in teaching and advising. Numerous faculty members have received teaching awards, and faculty are known across campus for the quality of their advising. As a geography major, students meet one-on-one with their faculty adviser every semester during advising week, and they are always welcome to talk with their adviser at any time throughout the semester whenever questions may arise. In addition to advising students about their academic programs, the departments provide timely information about internships, nationally competitive awards, and other opportunities as they arise.

Careers and Graduate School

The Broadcast Meteorology major prepares students for careers as broadcast meteorologists. Currently, there is a national need for broadcast meteorologists and for science reporters, who are often also trained as meteorologists. Because of their training as general meteorologists, student will also be prepared to take jobs with the National Weather Service, the private sector (including jobs with agriculture and energy industries, insurance agencies, and others), and federal and non-federal careers where forecasting is the primary job responsibility. The program also adequately prepares students for advanced specialized training and education at the graduate level, including graduate education in broadcast meteorology.

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Admissions Information

Freshman/First-Year Admission: No requirements beyond University admission requirements.

Change to Program Policy: No selective or limited admission requirements.

External Transfer Admission: No requirements beyond University admission requirements.

Degree Requirements

University-wide Graduation Requirements

To complete this program, students must meet all University-wide graduation requirements.

Liberal Arts and Sciences Distribution Requirement

View the College-Level Requirements for the College of Arts & Sciences.

Broadcast Meteorology Major (B.S.)

The major requirements for the B.S. degree in Geography – Meteorology is a minimum of 95 hours, including 38 credit hours from the geography and meteorology core, 24 hours of associated science classes as specified by the AMS, and 33 credits from the journalism core.

Geography Foundations

Complete the following geography foundation courses with at least the minimum grade indicated for each course. Ideally GEOG 2680 and 2710 should be taken before your junior year.

  • GEOG 1100 - Physical Geography Credit Hours: 4
  • GEOG 2710 - Introduction to Statistics in Geography Credit Hours: 3
  • GEOG 4800 - Capstone Experience in Geography Credit Hours: 3

Meteorology Core Courses

Complete the following nine required courses:

  • GEOG 3010 - Meteorology Credit Hours: 4
  • GEOG 3020 - Climatology Credit Hours: 4
  • GEOG 3030 - Meteorological Observations 
  • GEOG 3040 - Practicum in Meteorology and Forecasting Credit Hours: 1
  • GEOG 3050 - Physical Meteorology Credit Hours: 3
  • GEOG 4060 – Synoptic Meteorology Credit Hours: 4
  • GEOG 4070 - Mesoscale Meteorology Credit Hours: 4
  • GEOG 4080 - Dynamic Meteorology I Credit Hours: 3
  • GEOG 4090 - Dynamic Meteorology II Credit Hours: 3

Journalism Core Courses

  • JOUR 1010 - The Future of Media Credit Hours: 3
  • JOUR 2311 - Introduction to Multiplatform Reporting and Writing Credit Hours: 3
  • JOUR 3100 - Communication Law Credit Hours: 3
  • JOUR 3140 - Fundamentals of Online Journalism* Credit Hours: 3
  • JOUR 3200 - Ethics, Mass Media, and Society Credit Hours: 3
  • JOUR 3500 - Radio and Television Reporting and Writing Credit Hours: 3
  • JOUR 4520 - Radio and Television Producing* Credit Hours: 3
  • JOUR 4920 - Advanced Multimedia Reporting Practicum* Credit Hours: 3
  • JOUR 4921 - Advanced Multimedia News Editing Practicum* Credit Hours: 3
  • 6 credit hours of JOUR electives

*Taught as a newscast practicum cluster producing a daily live television newscast

Supporting Courses

  • ET 2100 - Engineering Programming Credit Hours: 4
  • MATH 2301 - Calculus I Credit Hours: 4
  • MATH 2302 - Calculus II Credit Hours: 4
  • MATH 3400 - Elementary Differential Equations Credit Hours: 3
  • PHYS 2051 - General Physics Credit Hours: 5
  • CHEM 1210 - Principles of Chemistry I Credit Hours: 4