Ph.D. Programs

We offer Ph.D. degree programs in the graduate field of atmospheric science and the graduate field of geological sciences. We foster leaders in science that will go on to solve some of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Cornell earth and atmospheric scientists are engaged around the world in a wide range of disciplines. They have also served in leadership roles in such high profile efforts such as the Geological Society of America and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Students and faculty seated outside of Cornell Dairy, smiling and eating ice cream.

Our Ph.D. Programs

  • cloud formations seen from above

    Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science

    Our graduate program in atmospheric science is a relatively small, high quality program.  Faculty members do not advise large numbers of graduate students, and this provides students with the opportunity to work closely with their advisor. This individual attention is combined with the advantages of a large and diverse research university, and the beautiful, livable environment of Ithaca.

  • Cornell researchers working in the Andes

    Ph.D. in Geological Sciences

    Our geological sciences graduate program produces first-class scientists operating on the cutting edge of geoscience research. Our former students now occupy prestigious positions in academia, industry, and government. The program is flexible and is individually tailored to each student, and takes advantage of Cornell’s strength in sciences and engineering and interdisciplinary education.

Possible Ph.D. Projects–Fall 2026

We are seeking Ph.D. students to work on the following projects to begin in the Fall of 2026 in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University.  Please contact the faculty listed below for more information.  Details on applying to Cornell are available at Cornell’s Graduate School Admissions page.

  • Climate Dynamics

    Flavio Lehner is seeking a student to work on topics of climate variability with a focus on how sea surface temperature variability and trends affect terrestrial hydroclimate, using coupled climate models, statistical analysis, and machine learning.

  • Geomorphology/Cryosphere

    Tingan Li and Seth Saltiel are looking for a Ph.D. student to work on a project studying subglacial hydrology.  The project will design and conduct laboratory flume experiments to investigate the interactions between subglacial water flow, till deformation, and basal stresses, and further integrate experimental data with models and observations to improve understanding of subglacial processes.

  • Glaciology

    Riley Culberg is seeking a Ph.D. student to work on a project studying snow compaction processes on the Greenland Ice Sheet using airborne ice-penetrating radar.

  • Physical Oceanography

    Una Miller is seeking a graduate student with a strong quantitative background, coding experience in Python or similar languages, and interests in air-sea interaction, polar/subpolar overturning circulation, sea-ice-ocean interactions, boundary-layer turbulence, and/or oceanographic instrumentation and fieldwork. Please email her with your CV and a brief statement of research experience and interests.

  • Geospace Science

    David Hysell is seeking multiple students to work on theory and observations of phenomena in the upper atmosphere and ionosphere related to space weather. Projects will involve the use of large international facilities as well as instruments made in our lab together with numerical simulations and forecast models.

  • Volcanology and Remote Sensing

    Matt Pritchard is looking for a Ph.D. student to work on an inter-disciplinary project to study an active volcano in southern Chile and projects that synthesize volcano remote sensing observations for the Earth and Venus.  The student will also have the opportunity to help validate Synthetic Aperture Radar observations from the new NISAR satellite.

Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell.

  • CorGGLE opens minds to geosciences

    An innovative program at Cornell allows students and recent graduates from non-geoscience fields to explore opportunities for geoscience graduate study, specifically giving them exposure to myriad socially relevant careers in the geosciences. What’s a CorGGLE? Some people know exactly what…