The Space Physics and Aeronomy Curricula in the Physics Department at Utah State University

Over the past half century the department of Physics at Utah State University jointly with the Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences has educated students in the field of space physics and aeronomy and has produced over 70 PhD degrees in the field. Currently eight of the 17 faculty members in the Physics department are specialized in the field of space physics and aeronomy and 11 PhD students are working toward their degrees. The emphasis of our program is on the near-Earth space environment where students find research opportunities in experimental, theoretical, numerical, and data analysis aspects of the field. The research opportunities are augmented with a mixture of general physics classes and more specialized classes in the field of space physics and aeronomy (e.g. plasma physics). We will present an overview of our curricula and discuss our space physics and aeronomy program.