Michigan Tech's PhD in Atmospheric Sciences stresses the field's interdisciplinary nature and societal relevance. The doctoral program in atmospheric sciences was born in 2007 and has grown to include 12 faculty in five departments. The first PhD student from the program graduated in 2013.

Before atmospheric science became its own program, there was more than 20 years of atmospheric science research taking place across campus in several departments (physics, geology, civil and environmental engineering, chemistry, and forestry). The current program brings together interdisciplinary expertise, and many new areas, under a single umbrella, affording students an interdepartmental education while maintaining a strong focus on different sub-fields of atmospheric research.