University of Michigan - Climate & Space

Ready to move into climate impact work?
In one year, gain applied training in climate science, data analysis, and stakeholder-based problem-solving to engineer climate solutions with the Climate Impact & Solutions MEng at Michigan.

Enroll in our MEng in Climate Impacts & Solutions at Michigan Engineering! Link in comments.

NASA’s SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment) mission will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, shifting from its original ride into space aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur vehicle. Led by P.I. Susan Lepri at the University of Michigan Department of Climate and Space, the heliophysics mission will fly as a rideshare sponsored by the United States Space Force’s Space Systems Command.

Read more from NASA: https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/sunrise/2026/07/13/nasas-sunrise-mission-changes-launch-vehicle-to-spacex-falcon-heavy/

NASA’s SunRISE Mission Changes Launch Vehicle to SpaceX Falcon Heavy - NASA Science NASA’s SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment) mission will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in

A 19-year ‘goldmine’ of cloud and rainwater samples from a New Hampshire mountain provides fresh insights about air pollution. The research team led by University of Michigan scientists analyzed cloud and rainwater samples collected at the top of Mount Washington, New Hampshire, by the Appalachian Mountain Club. The rare, long-term sample series contained telling markers of human pollution and rainout.

Read more: https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/2026/06/24/air-quality-rainfall-history-matters-as-much-as-where-the-air-came-from/

Air Quality: Rainfall History Matters as Much as Where the Air Came From - Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering A 19-year ‘goldmine’ of cloud and rainwater samples collected from a New Hampshire mountain provides fresh insights about air pollution.

“CYGNSS is exciting because it takes the idea of using GPS as a radar—which had been around for about ten years—and turns it into a practical instrument that scientists and emergency responders can use in surprising and innovative ways,” says PI Chris Ruf, a professor at the University of Michigan Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering.

NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) was the first constellation to produce a high-quality data product by picking up GPS microwaves reflecting off the Earth. For its impact on science and disaster monitoring, CYGNSS is featured in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s RTX Living in the Space Age exhibit, which opens today in Washington, D.C.

Read more: https://news.engin.umich.edu/2026/07/this-satellite-constellation-transformed-earth-science-by-creatively-tuning-in-to-gps-signals/

"The MEng program [in Climate Impacts & Solutions] at Michigan attracted me for a few reasons. First, the hands-on project and getting experience really appealed to me. I also knew that the program would be fairly small, allowing me more individual focus from professors and faculty as well as with my fellow classmates." Alumnus Brian Cromwell '24 shares his experience mastering in climate impacts and solutions, and going on to work for the National Weather Service.

Read more: https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/2026/06/09/climate-impacts/

U-M Climate Impacts & Solutions Alumnus Says Nothing Quite Compares to MEng Degree - Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering The MEng in Climate Impacts & Solutions prepared Alumnus Brian Cromwell for his career at the National Weather Service, where he creates warnings and watches for hazardous weather.

Congratulations to our new Ph.D.! We are proud of you, and we can't wait to see what you accomplish, Dr. Erica Whiting!

Read more: https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/2026/06/08/congratulations-to-our-new-phd-5/

Owen Hughes, a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, has been selected for the prestigious Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program. He will work on research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, with a focus on Earth system model development.

Read more: https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/2026/06/01/u-s-department-of-energy-selects-u-m-doctoral-candidate-for-office-of-science-program/
Michigan Engineering

U.S. Department of Energy Selects U-M Doctoral Candidate for Office of Science Program - Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering Owen Hughes, who is studying at University of Michigan Climate and Space, has been selected for the prestigious DOE Office of Science research program.

"It’s as if you could install an airbag in the magnetosphere,” says Assistant Professor Daniel Welling, a co-author on the study and space physicist at the University of Michigan Department of Climate and Space. Could a radical new idea block solar storms from impacting Earth's atmosphere with gases released from satellites, to create a kind of protective "airbag"?

Read more in Science: https://www.science.org/content/article/radical-proposal-would-block-solar-storms-orbital-airbag

Radical proposal would block solar storms with orbital ‘airbag’ Gases released from satellites could slash the threat of severe space weather