November 6, 2009 – News & Views

This illustration shows the approximate sizes of the planets relative to each other. Beginning this fall, Ohio Wesleyan has added planetary science to its list of more than 90 majors.

Image courtesy of NASA’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory

A Cosmic Opportunity
Ohio Wesleyan adds planetary science major

Every class at Ohio Wesleyan University offers students a chance to expand their worlds with newfound knowledge. But OWU’s latest major goes even farther.

Debuting this fall, OWU’s planetary science major allows students to learn more about the entire solar system, including the nature, formation, and evolution of planets and other celestial bodies, such as dwarf planets, satellites, asteroids, and comets. To achieve its goal, the new major features a challenging curriculum that combines elements of astronomy, chemistry, geography, geology, and physics.

“OWU is already unusual—particularly among small schools—in offering an astrophysics major,” says Bob Harmon, Ph.D., a member of the faculty committee that designed the new major. “By adding planetary science, we add another program not commonly offered. We are the only school in the GLCA [Great Lakes Colleges Association] to offer it.”

In addition to Harmon, chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, other faculty members who worked to develop the planetary science major are: Barbara Andereck, Ph.D., physics; Karen Fryer, Ph.D., geology, and Bart Martin, Ph.D., geology.

Fryer says the new major adds to the breadth and depth of science majors and minors already available at Ohio Wesleyan.

“The planetary science major formalizes the preparation for our students who identify a special interest in other planets and bodies of the solar system, ensuring that they have the most appropriate selection of courses,” Fryer says.

The new major also “brings OWU’s strengths in astronomy and geology, which are not ubiquitous at liberal arts colleges, to the attention of prospective students,” she says.

“It’s a natural fit for a student whose imagination is fired by images of other worlds sent back by space probes and who has broad ranging scientific interests,” Harmon says. “If we want to understand our own planet, it is not enough to study it in isolation. We always learn more about any subject of scientific study when we have multiple examples that we can compare and contrast.”

For example, Harmon says, Venus has a thick carbon dioxide atmosphere that exhibits an extreme version of the greenhouse effect. “Its surface is hotter than a pizza oven because of it,” he notes. By studying the physics and chemistry of the Venusian atmosphere, along with the forces that have shaped its surface, scientists gain insight into the workings of Earth and vice versa, he says.

Students who study planetary science will have a variety of career opportunities available to them, he says, including working for NASA or one of its subcontractors following graduate school.

Fryer notes that planetary science majors would need to pick up additional geology classes to expand their career opportunities to include those that focus on the understanding and application of geology to the areas of resource exploration and environmental issues.

“However, as an interdisciplinary science major in a liberal arts college, the students will bring the critical thinking and communication skills common to our science majors to whatever they choose to do next,” Fryer says.

– Cole Hatcher