Master of Professional Science (Climate and Society)

Climate and Society (WCS)

This degree track within the Professional Master Program emphasizes the relationship between weather, climate and societal impacts. The financial consequences resulting from natural and anthropogenic climate change, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events pose important scientific and socio-economic challenges, both in terms of urban planning and managing the financial risks associated with these changes. Employers in government, insurance, energy, and a number of other weather-impacted industries are seeking professionals who are fluent in both the fundamentals of business and the physical sciences.

Social vulnerability, mitigation strategies, and adaptive capacity in the face of climate change are strongly mediated by legal, socioeconomic, policy, psychological, epidemiological and cultural factors, including housing and construction codes, environmental risk perception, and health management/delivery. This theme draws on UM’s breadth and depth in interdisciplinary climatological and meteorological research, addressing risk management in the human health, fisheries, agriculture, water management, natural hazards, and coastal zone sectors. Faculty from RSMAS, Miller School of Medicine, and Geography contribute to the climate and society theme with their analysis of both climate trends and hazards, while faculty at the Schools of Law, Architecture, and the College of Engineering focus on the legal, material, and aesthetic aspects of the built environment that influence the mitigation of vulnerability and development of more resilient urban systems