Kade Barkas grew up with a fear of storms, but they never knew where it came from.
It wasn’t until the UW-Milwaukee junior flipped through their childhood photo album that they realized they had lived through Hurricane Wilma in 2005, when it touched down in southern Florida, where they were visiting.
“Hurricane Wilma was the lowest pressure Atlantic hurricane ever recorded, which was crazy to experience as a 2-year-old,” Barkas says. “In my baby book, I see a ton of flooding, palm trees knocked over, and I’m at Disney World. I should be enjoying my life, and yet I’m living through a hurricane.”
After discovering that childhood experience, Barkas started watching Storm Chasers on the Discovery Channel and fell in love with atmospheric science. The show inspired them to pursue a bachelor’s degree in UWM’s Atmospheric Science Program.
“I originally didn't choose UWM. I chose Ohio State, but I had some funding fall through and UWM was the backup,” Barkas says. “I wasn't super excited to come, but knowing what I've experienced now, I would have transferred here anyways. I love that the program was tight-knit and that we had a forecasting lab that students can get involved with called the Innovative Weather Center.”
But Barkas never got to experience the Innovative Weather Center, which gave students real-world forecasting experience. The program was shut down in 2023 due to funding.
It was the first blow to UWM’s Atmospheric Science program, which prepares students for careers in weather and climate forecasting and research.
The following year, in spring 2024, UWM Atmospheric Science faculty warned students that the degree program itself was at risk of closure.
Barkas, now president of UWM’s student-run Atmospheric Science Club, remembers hearing that news.
“I think my initial thought was just shock, in that moment of being told, 'Hey, the program is getting cut.’ And from there it was just — OK, now what am I supposed to do?” Barkas says.
Paul Roebber is a distinguished professor of Atmospheric Sciences, which is part of UWM’s School of Freshwater Sciences. He says that as faculty in the program have retired or left, UWM has not hired enough new professors to provide the same level of instruction and research.
Roebber says because of that, the faculty voted in 2024 to suspend admissions to the bachelor’s degree program.
In 2025, they voted to end both the undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
“Ultimately, the way the UW System works is that faculty have to vote on the ending of a program,” he says. “We really didn't have any choice. There was no other option as long as the university was not willing to hire new people to replace anybody who was leaving.”
Roebber says the Atmospheric Science program’s small class sizes attracted students, but the low enrollment worked against them.
“We've always really punched above our weight … But of course, the university is looking at a metric of how many graduates you produce per five-year period, and because we're just at the edge of that, they feel like it's not financially viable to keep us going,” he says. “So that was [the university’s] decision.”
In recent years, UWM has struggled financially due to stagnant state funding and enrollment challenges. According to the university, the Atmospheric Science program had small graduating classes of about four undergraduate and three graduate students per year.
“The cost to maintain a small program was not sustainable in the longer term, and the difficult decision was made to allocate resources to higher-demand programs,” a UWM spokesperson said in a statement to WUWM. “In addition, the program faced a crossroads with multiple upcoming faculty retirements. Under the scenario of fewer faculty and limited demand for the program, closure was the responsible decision.”
The university did not respond for comment on how much it would save by ending the Atmospheric Science program.
Student Kade Barkas says UWM told students already enrolled in the atmospheric science program that they would receive personalized advising to help them stay on track for graduation.
“We were originally told that this year everything would be fine,” they say. “That immediately fell through back in October. We were told that electives would be taught out, that there was a teach-out plan for everyone, and come to find out, they're not offering electives in the spring.”
Two faculty members, including Roebber, will be retiring at the end of this school year, which leaves the program with limited capacity to teach the classes that remaining students need.
As for incoming students who are interested in atmospheric science, the UWM spokesperson said, “Undergraduates will still be able to pursue their interests in climate science through a new optional track being developed within the freshwater science major.” Through this track, “students will be able to select elective coursework focused on climate science.”
Barkas says some of their younger classmates are transferring from UWM to atmospheric science programs at other schools such as Northern Illinois University, UW-Madison and St. Cloud State in Minnesota.
Cuts to national weather forecasting create an uncertain future
It’s not just the closure of UWM’s program on Barkas’ mind. They’re also worried about their job prospects after graduation. They recently decided to become a double major in atmospheric science and journalism, advertising and media studies to give them more career options.
“With everything that's been happening in federal news and just a ton of layoffs, a ton of uncertainty, I decided in February that it would be time to jump the gun and get that double degree,” Barkas says.
As part of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut the federal workforce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fired about 800 employees in late February.
NOAA is a leading center of climate research and provides weather forecasts across the country, and it’s bracing for more cuts under Trump’s 2026 budget proposal.
Roebber warns that cuts to the federal agency could have a serious impact on the country’s ability to forecast and respond to major weather events.
UWM student Dillon Blount is graduating with a PhD in atmospheric science at the end of this school year and will soon be an assistant professor at Ohio University. He says the massive cuts to NOAA will trickle down to other climate and weather-related fields.
“Along with the anger that comes with these cuts, it also comes with knowing that my future will be impacted,” Blount says. “I'm not going into federal service; I am starting as an assistant professor. But I do need to work on research, and [that] comes from grants from the government, like the National Science Foundation or NOAA.”
Barkas says dealing with both the changes at UWM and the news about federal cuts has been exhausting. They originally planned to look for a federal job related to meteorology.
“I'm so tired of waking up every day wondering, ‘What classes are being offered? Why is there no communication?’” Barkas says. “And then I turn to the news, and they're like, ‘Hey, your entire livelihood? Your entire passion? Probably gonna be gone by the time you graduate.’ Which again, takes me back to why I decided to start that journalism degree.”
As students head into an uncertain future, Paul Roebber has encouraged them to be adaptable and continue developing their skills in atmospheric science.
Despite all the uncertainty, Barkas is choosing to finish their atmospheric science degree at UWM. They hope to put the training they received as one of UWM’s last atmospheric science graduates to work one day.
“I think what I've enjoyed most about the program is the relationships I've made with my fellow classmates and the faculty, especially,” Barkas says. “I don't feel like I'd get that type of connection anywhere else.”
Editor’s note: WUWM is a service of UW-Milwaukee.
The full statement from the UW-Milwaukee spokesperson regarding the School of Freshwater Sciences Atmospheric Science program closure can be found here.
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